Bugs, Bombs And A Pajama Party
by Jessi84
Summary: He always thought conferences would be boring, but what happens when he meets someone special there? A little mixture of fun, drama, angst and romance. Just the way life is. Horatio/Stella. I know it's a crossover, but I decided to post it here.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is my first try in writing a crossover story. I have always thought that Horatio and Stella have some chemistry between them and after much debating I decided to give it a try… in what way.. that's what you have to find out. **

**I do not own any of the characters, neither from CSI Miami nor from CSI New York. If I did, some would never ever see the light of day again, believe me. LOL**

**Hope you enjoy it.**

**Bugs, Bombs And A Pajama Party**

**Chapter 01**

With a shudder, Horatio Caine stepped into the warm foyer of the Marriot Hotel, Boston. After getting up very early in the morning, a 3 ½ hours flight and a short drive with the cab later, he had finally managed to arrive at the hotel and all he wanted now was his room and a nice, hot shower. It was incredible cold outside, no wonder since it was December 22nd, so right before Christmas.

This was also the reason why he had agreed to go the conference. In a way, he was the only one without a big family that either lived in Miami or somewhere else. And Horatio being Horatio didn't want to ask a member of his team to leave the city right before Christmas. He wondered though, who had picked out this particular time of the year. Maybe the organizer thought, that the crime rate would decrease before the holidays, so no one would have an excuse for not coming, but still, it was a bit weird.

Pulling his suitcase after him, he walked to the reception, where a small crowd had already started to form. With a sigh he stopped behind a man and took off his black coat. There was no need to wear it inside, since it was pleasantly warm. Thank God no one had had the idea to have a conference in the mountains. The degrees below zero he was experiencing here were already enough for his Miami warmth used body.

Looking around, he hoped to spot some familiar faces, but no one caught his eyes. He hadn't had the chance to call Mac Taylor to ask if he would attend the conference, because Miami had been a very busy city in the last couple of weeks and in a way, he was rather glad that he had some free time now. Though lying on the beach or in his hammock at home, sounded a lot better than freezing his backside off.

So lost in thoughts about the weather, he didn't notice that a familiar face was indeed approaching him; neither did he realize that the desk clerk was calling him because he was next.

"You know, for someone who has his ears and eyes everywhere, you seem a bit distracted," a voice behind him said and made him jump slightly. Turning on his heels, he gave the person a glare, which immediately transformed into a gentle smile when he saw the face.

"And you should know better than sneaking up on a police officer," he chided softly and held out his hand. "Stella Bonasera, don't tell me that Mac is already in his room and you have to do the check in."

"It's even worse," she said and shook his hand. "He didn't even come with me, but is still in New York, probably ice skating at the Rockefeller Center."

Laughing, Horatio grabbed his suitcase and walked to the desk. Without much preamble he handed the man his reservation and immediately turned towards Stella again. "Mac Taylor, Marine… ice skating? Wish I had a photo of that," he grinned.

"Maybe I can ask Sheldon to take one," she quipped and rested her arm against the desk. Seeing his questioning look, she smiled. "I already checked in about an hour ago. And now I wanted to see if there's a familiar face out here and I think I've found one."

"It definitely looks like it," he agreed and accepted his key card.

"Your room number is 367, Mr. Caine. It's on the third floor, left wing. If you take this lift," the clerk pointed towards the direction, "you'll find it very easily. Do you need a boy picking up your luggage?"

"No, thanks," Horatio shook his head and grabbed his belongings. "Left wing?" he made sure and got his answer from Stella.

"Right, I'll take you there, my room is in the same hall," she said and motioned him to follow her.

"I'm right behind you Ma'am," Horatio chuckled and did exactly that. "So, did you lose a bet, or why did Mac send you instead of going himself?" he asked intrigued on their way to the lift.

"No…I didn't lose a bet, it was just my turn to attend here. It's either Mac or me who go to the conferences and to Mac's defense, he wanted to go, but I didn't let him."

Smiling to himself, Horatio chose not to comment on this one. Stella had a very strong will and once she had set her mind on something, it was pretty hard to stop her. Even a stubborn Marine like Mac Taylor had no chance against her. In a lot of ways she reminded him of Calleigh. They were both stubborn and tough women, but then again, they were also very different in their characters. While Calleigh was a real southern steel magnolia, who loved guns, Stella was probably a typical Greek woman. Not that he knew any Greek women beside her, so it was hard to tell…but in the end, the two women were different. Shaking his head at his confusing thoughts, he followed her into the elevator and pressed the button for the third floor.

"What about you? Why did you choose to come here?" she turned the tables. "Did you pull the shortest matchstick?"

Chuckling, he shook his head. "No, I actually didn't tell them about the conference in the first place. When I saw the date, I knew I wouldn't want anyone else to go here. They all have family in the one or other way and I didn't want to keep them away from home, you know?"

"But what about your family?" she asked surprised.

Horatio just shrugged. "Oh well, it's different if you choose by yourself to go, or if your boss tells you to go," he explained and exited the lift. "I'm sure that one of them would have agreed to go, but I didn't want that."

Shaking her head at his rather cute explanation she pointed towards the left wing. "You're incredible, you know that?" she grinned and took the lead. This was the Horatio she had come to know; always worried about the well-being of the people around him. Even though they had only met twice, this particular character trade had been obvious to everyone.

"I take that as a compliment and run with it," he easily replied and reached for his key card. "And I have the advantage of escaping Natalia's and Calleigh's decoration marathon," he joked.

"Oh a little decoration here and there is really nice," she replied.

"I knew you would say that as a woman, but they overdo it every year. Everything in the lab gets decorated; even us men if we stand too long on one place. Before you even realize it, you're wearing fairy lights."

Stella couldn't help but laugh at the image forming in her head. Horatio wearing blinking fairy lights was a sight for the gods.

"Stop laughing," he pouted. "You have no idea how burdensome it is to walk around the lab and getting stopped suddenly, because the cable is too short."

"You're insane," she shook her head and kept on laughing. "I think the cold is not good for you," she teased him and stopped at his room. "Here we are, right before you keep on with your fairy tales," she raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure the ladies would be happy to hear about the tales you're telling me here, don't you think?"

"Ah…there's no need to do that," he quickly said, fearing that he would really end up as a walking Christmas tree.

"I thought so," she nodded and stepped away, so he could open his door. "Well then Mr. Fairy Lights, I'm sure we'll see us later at one of the lectures."

"I'm sure we will, Stella," he smiled and turned on the lights. "Thanks for showing me the way."

"You're welcome, Horatio," she replied and waved at him. "See ya later."

Waving back, he waited until she reached her own room and then went inside his own. This conference looked like it had a lot of potential.

***

A few hours and a nice, hot shower later, Horatio closed his door behind him and made his way towards the elevator. In his hand he had a small flyer in which the dates and rooms of the different lectures and seminars were written down. Not that he intended to visit every possible lecture, no, he would just attend the one he was interested in. Listening about the way bodies were differently decaying when being in snow, wasn't so interesting for him, due to the fact that snow was a rather rare sight in Miami.

But he had to attend this particular lecture he was going to, because it was the first one at all. And there was no way that he could skip the introduction. The summary of the leaflet didn't say much about the topic, just something about a special guest presentation and he dearly hoped that it would be an interesting one.

Noticing other people disappearing in a particular room and hearing buzz of a lot of different voices, he decided to have a closer look at it. Maybe he had already found the correct room of the lecture. And the moment he entered the room, he knew that he was right. It was a big conference hall, with a stage at the other end of the room and hundreds of seats standing around; most of them already occupied with people who were talking to their neighbors or to the ones behind them.

With a sigh, he let his eyes roam over the crowd and smiled when he noticed a familiar curly head in one of the seats in front. Making his way towards her, he picked up parts of the conversations around him, that were basically about the question who this special guest would be. Sometimes he heard the name of some ballistic expert, then about some biologist and more than once he heard the name of Gil Grissom.

After a few moments, he stopped at the row of seats where Stella was sitting and noticed that she was in some busy conversation with another woman. Clearing his throat, he rested his hand on the back of the vacant chair next to her. "Excuse me, is this seat taken?"

Being still engrossed in her conversation, Stella didn't recognize his voice. "Yes it is," she turned around and broke out into a smile when she saw Horatio standing there. "Horatio," she grinned, "sit down, I kept it free for you."

Chuckling, he did as he was told and smiled at the two ladies. "Thank you and please, don't stop your lively conversation on my account."

"Hogwash," she shook her head and looked between the two. "Mary, this is Lt. Horatio Caine from the Miami Dade Crime Lab," she started and then looked at Horatio. "Horatio, this is Detective Mary Blige from the San Francisco Crime Lab."

"Pleasure to meet you Ma'am," Horatio nodded at her politely.

"The pleasure is all mine, Lieutenant," the woman replied and was immediately corrected by him.

"It's Horatio Ma'am," he smiled and was interrupted on his part.

"I think no one calls him by his rank, right?" Stella smiled. "At least you told us not to call you like this."

"So you two obviously know each other for a bit longer," Mary concluded and like every CSI, found it very interesting.

"That we do, Ma'am, that we do," Horatio nodded. "We had a few cases together, which brought me to New York and as they say, the rest is history."

"Right," Stella agreed. "And now you can help us with your investigation skills in a very tough case."

"Oh really?" he mocked. "Well I always thought that O.J. was guilty," he chuckled.

"I think we all did and still do," Mary giggled. "But no, this case is a different one."

"Right, we're guessing who our special guest will be," Stella chimed in. "We've heard about some Ballistic guy and a biologist."

"That's the same I've heard, plus Gil Grissom."

"Gil Grissom?" the two women asked.

"Yes, he was head of the Las Vegas Crime Lab until a year ago or so. He's an entomologist… well…his specialty are bugs."

"Uh…bugs," Mary pulled a face and Stella could only agree.

"Then let's hope that it's not him. I already feel it tickling everywhere," she shuddered.

"I hope it's the ballistic expert, even though Calleigh will kill me if I tell her," Horatio joked and turned towards the stage, when the lights went off. "Let's see," he whispered softly and clapped his hands when a man in his late fifties entered the stage.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, at first, let me thank you for coming here so numerously, especially at this time of the year. I can imagine that some of you may have had second thoughts about attending here, but let me tell you that it will be worth it in the end. I'm sure that most of you have read the small leaflet and are now wondering who this special guest will be. Let me tell you that this person is one of the reasons, why attending here was a good decision."

"Some of you might know him as the old head of the Las Vegas Crime Lab, others though might know him as a professor for entomology and then, there probably are some people in this room, who have read his books about the smallest but still very important element in a chain of evidence…" Slowly he looked at the dark background behind him. "Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome our special guest, Professor Dr. Gilbert Grissom."

"Oh no, the bug man?" Stella sighed and looked rather unimpressed, even a little bit disgusted. "I hope he doesn't use pictures," she whispered.

Horatio did his best to stifle a laugh, but a few noises came out anyway.

"Stop laughing, Mister or I will raise my hand if he asks if someone wants to hold his hairy spider and tell him that this had been your biggest wish for years," she threatened and gave Horatio an evil glare, when he hid his laugh with a cough. "Men," she sighed playfully annoyed and stopped talking when Grissom cleared his throat and started with his lecture.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for your nice welcome. Due to the long years of experiences when it comes to the reaction of people to bugs, I know that some of you might be a bit sensitive when it comes to those little creatures, but nevertheless, they're very important in our every day work. Let me show you one of the most common insects that we find on dead bodies – the Fly."

"_Oh great, he does have pictures of them,"_ Stella thought to herself and took a deep breath. _"Next time when I read the phrase 'special guest' I will leave that particular lecture out,"_ she promised herself and tried to concentrate on Grissom's rants about flies, maggots and whatever other creepy creatures were running around and over a dead body. _"How can someone be so fascinated about that?"_ she asked herself and pulled a face when there was a close-up of some kind of wound and seemingly hundreds of maggots all over it. _"Well thank you Mr. Grissom, there goes my dinner."_

_**Tbc**_

More? Hit the green button and tell me. :-)


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you all for your wonderful reviews and for adding the story to your alert list. It means a lot to me. **

**Chapter 02**

"So what about dinner?" Horatio asked when he and Stella emerged from the conference hall. Gil Grissom hadn't been the only one who had given a lecture and now time for dinner was rapidly approaching.

"Dinner?" Stella asked incredulously. "After all those bugs, spiders, leeches and insects he had shown us? This was disgusting and definitely the best way to start and keep up with a diet, that's for sure."

"Not to forget that some people actually eat those insects," Horatio upped the ante and only laughed when Stella shot him a death glare. "Come on, Stella. It had been a long day for both of us and I'm sure the restaurant here will serve something different than bugs," he gave her his best charming smile and pointed towards the restaurant.

Of course she was hungry, very much so, but she didn't want to admit it and therefore let him win. "I really wonder how you can still think about eating after this lecture," she shook her head, but followed him nevertheless.

"There's more or less nothing that can spoil my appetite and don't deny it, it's the same with you." In actual fact, this worked for every CSI, or they all would have died of starvation already.

"I'm only doing this for you," she huffed playfully. "Since I know that it's frustrating to sit alone and eat."

"That's all I'm asking for, Ma'am," he grinned and gestured to a small table near the big windows on the opposite side of the room. Helping her to sit down when they arrived, he took a seat himself across from her and sighed. "Let's hope that at least the food is good here, since you don't like their special…appetizers."

"Funny, Mr. Caine," she growled and thanked the waiter when he handed her the menu. "So let's see..," she talked to herself and let her eyes roam over the different dishes. It was definitely a good thing that they had board and lodging, so she could order whatever she wanted.

"Did something already catch your eye?" Horatio asked, after he hadn't heard anything from her for a few moments. He himself would take a good steak for the main course.

"Mhm…probably yes," she nodded and had another look at the dish. "Yes, I think I'll take the fish."

"Sounds good to me," Horatio replied and motioned the waiter that they were ready to order.

A few minutes later they were alone again and drinking a good glass of wine. "So," Horatio started, "what's new in New York?" he asked curiously, since he and Mac hadn't had the time to talk for a while.

"Oh," she grinned, "especially you should know that there's always something new in this city. But since I believe that you don't mean if there's a new tree in the Central Park, but what's new in the crime lab… well there definitely are some things you might not know yet."

"And that would be?" he asked intrigued and leaned back in his chair.

"Oh well, starting with the fact, that we now have a married couple in our midst..," she started and was immediately interrupted by Horatio.

"Married?" he asked and looked at her ring finger, which resulted into a "Not me, Silly" comment from Stella. Smiling, he winked at her and became more serious again. "Okay, so who's married?"

"Do you still remember Danny Messer and Lindsay Monroe?"

"Hmm, I think I do. Doesn't he always call her Montana?" Horatio thought out loud.

"Exactly. Though I'm sure that he's too afraid now of doing so, because his wife wouldn't be amused about it…," she joked.

"Well if my conclusion is right and that Lindsay is his wife…then I'd totally agree with that," Horatio chuckled and shook his head. "So these two? That's wonderful. Already felt some connection between them when I was in New York last time, but oh well…never thought that this could be something so…official, if you know what I mean."

"I do and in a way, they didn't have any other chance but make it that official," Stella asked cryptically.

"Stella, stop doing this, I'm an old man and too much excitement is not good for me," he chided her playfully and sipped from his wine.

"I'll pretend that I didn't hear that, Lieutenant," she rolled her eyes, but revealed the secret nevertheless. "Well, let's say there were unforeseen events that brought them…even closer and made Danny think about their whole relationship."

Raising an eyebrow, Horatio repeated her words in his head until realization struck him. "A pregnancy?"

"The candidate get 100 points," she laughed. "Yes, Lindsay was pregnant at that time and after she'd said no to his first proposal…he had tricked her into saying yes a few weeks later, with me and Mac as their witnesses."

"The baby is already born?" Horatio asked surprised. "Wow, they really are quick and Mac is really slow in keeping me up to date," he joked.

"I'll tell him once I'm back," she smiled. "But yes, the baby is already there. A little girl called Lucy. Such a cutie, the whole lab is head over heels for her, no matter if man or woman."

"I bet," Horatio chuckled and could only imagine what it would be like in his lab if one of his colleagues would become a mother or a father. "That's wonderful news, Stella. Please tell them my congratulations when you see them back home, will you?"

"Of course," she replied and found it endearing that he was so happy for some people he barely knew. "But then again, I need to congratulate you as well," she continued and immediately noticed that his expressions changed from happy to..well..sad in a way. "I'm sorry if I overstepped some line here."

"No," Horatio shook his head and looked at her reassuringly. "It's fine and okay, I don't mind."

Stella wasn't so sure about it, so she decided to change the subject a bit. "I still need to find a Christmas present for Lucy, not that she would notice if she doesn't get one, but I so want to give her something. I just didn't have the time for doing so back home."

"Oh I'm sure that you can find something nice here. Boston is far up north, but I'm confident that they have baby clothing stores here as well," he teased her and was glad that she had changed the subject.

"I'm not sure if you should have any more wine," she groaned, but didn't say anything more, because their meals arrived. After thanking their waiter, they both concentrated on their food, until Stella broke the silence. "So, what has happened in Miami?"

"Oh…a lot of things I'd say and most of them.. not as happy as the marriage and pregnancy I'm afraid," he sighed and took a bite of his steak.

"You want to talk about it? We don't have to, it's okay if-"

"No, it's fine. I just wanted to warn you in case you've been expecting something similar positive," he interrupted her gently. "We almost lost Eric Delko due to a very bad head injury caused by a bullet. It was a very close thing and to be honest, for a long moment, I had feared that our team would be losing another member." And he another relative in his life.

"That's never easy," she nodded in sympathy, because she knew what she was talking about. With Aiden Burn they had not only lost a member of their team, but also a very good friend.

"No it's not," he agreed, "but thankfully, Eric survived and even though there were a couple things that he had forgotten…he's making progress every day. He's already working in the lab again and sometimes it's like nothing had happened at all. But then, there are times, which are very frustrating, especially for him of course, but we do our best to help him. I think in a way, this injury and close call also achieved something in his friendship with Calleigh. I'm not aware of it officially of course, but I do believe that they're more than friends and as long as they're happy…I'm happy for them."

"So maybe you can also tell me about a marriage and a baby in the near future," she commented and was happy that the man was doing better. Sure, she didn't know him personally, but he was a police officer as well and in a way, they were all a big family.

"Oh.. I don't know. You know we have this IAB Agent in Miami, who always sticks his nose into other people's business and officially, relationships with a fellow officer are forbidden. Especially when they're in the same team. That's why I have no idea about it officially, I just see their glances," he shrugged. "And I certainly won't ask them about it. Once they trust me enough and their relationship, they will fill me in." He was sure about that. He knew that his friends trusted him, just as he trusted them.

"That's sad," Stella shook her head. "As if there aren't other…more important things for them to do," she continued in disgust.

"Well, it's his personal vendetta against me and he wants to make my team suffer to get them on his side. Too bad for him, that this won't happen in a million years," he rolled his eyes at Stetler's antics. "Well this was the one big thing that happened in the last months…the other big thing was our ME Alexx Woods, leaving the lab. This was and still is really hard for us. She was the mother of the team and if you had a problem you either went to her freely or she made you talk," he chuckled. "In a way the team is still struggling with this loss, even though she's still alive, still lives in Miami as well… it's not the same any longer."

"I can understand that, the team...is more like a family and if one member suddenly disappears, the rest is struggling with this particular loss."

"Right, but I can understand her choice. It was for the best actually and now she has a good job in the hospital and I think she likes that a lot."

"And that's all what counts in the end, doesn't it?" Stella asked and patted his hand.

"It does," he agreed wholeheartedly and gave her a small smile. Of course, the other huge loss in his life, was his wife, but…he didn't want to talk about Marisol right now. It had been over two years that he had lost her, but talking about it, still wasn't one of his fortes.

"And in fact you can still visit her. Just because she works somewhere else, doesn't mean that you can't see her."

"That's true and to be honest, I've been very bad in visiting her for the last months, I definitely need to improve that."

"You better do that, Mister. Even a close friendship needs some effort to keep it alive and you don't want to lose this friendship, do you?"

"God forbid!" he exclaimed jokingly, but meant it nevertheless. Alexx had become a very important part of his life, had become his confident on more than one occasion and he certainly didn't want to lose that. "Seriously, I'll call her once I'm back home and wish her a merry Christmas; which is funny actually since we always had a small party at her house in the past and we never had to call someone to wish them a merry Christmas. But.. I guess..time is full of changes."

"Sure, but why not keeping up with this great idea? You're still friends, still family… you can still have a small party. No one says that you have to work together to do that."

"But she probably wants to spend it now rather with her family, than with us," he pointed out.

"Believe me when I say, that this woman doesn't sound like she would forget her friends…her family just like that, Horatio. She's probably just waiting for some sign of life from all of you and the party can get started," Stella laughed. "You definitely have to call her, or she'll call you and give you some tongue lashing for not calling her."

"That sounds like our Alexx," Horatio joined in her laughing. "And what a tongue lashing it would be, I wouldn't even need my phone to hear it."

"See? And we don't want that, do we? So the first call you'll make once you're back, is Alexx. I'll hold you to that, Mr. Caine," she threatened.

"And what if I don't do that?" he challenged.

"Do you really want to know?" she countered and gave him a stare that would even make the toughest guy as meek as a lamb.

"Probably not," he replied cheekily and ate the last bite of his meal.

"Good answer, Lieutenant," she nodded contently. She was a Greek-Italian woman after all and knew her way around men. Something, Horatio had seemingly learned by now.

"I won't say anything without my lawyer," he bantered, but before she could say something, he changed the subject completely. "Can I interest you in a dessert?"

"Normally, my answer would be yes, but to be honest, I can already feel my eyes getting heavier by every moment passing by."

"I hope that's not because of my presence," he said in mockingly, but actually felt the same way.

"Of course it is," she grinned and laughed when he put his hand over his heart with a pained expression. "No, this time it's not you. It's rather due to the fact that I had a case the night before the flight, so I only had an hour or two before I needed to get up again to get ready for the flight. And right now, after this nice meal, this is catching up on me."

"Well then I'd say, that it's time for us to leave, don't you think?"

"You don't have to leave, Horatio. I'm sure that there's a nice bar here where you can stumble into some interesting conversations. Maybe you can also meet Mr. Grissom, since you're obviously so much into all those bugs," she teased, but meant it. "Just because I'm tired doesn't mean that you have to get to bed yourself."

"I know that, but to be honest, I'm tired too. I'm an old man, remember and I do need my sleep of which I didn't have that much either today. Taking the first flight is never a good idea, especially when it means getting up at 5 o'clock after a long shift," he shook his head and stood up. "I'm sure I can also meet Mr. Grissom at breakfast tomorrow and then I'll let him tell us about all the different insects that you can meet in nature."

"Oh, what a wonderful idea you got there, Horatio. It seems like I need to keep a great distance between you and me, because I definitely don't want to hear anything about those creatures ever again," she pulled a face and accepted his hand, when he helped her to get up.

"I don't really see your problem with them," Horatio continued when they walked out of the restaurant. "They're very important for a case, as he said."

"Sure, but I guess I would always let someone else find out what they are, what they eat and what their sex life looks like," she shuddered.

"Yes, that was indeed the most interesting…or should I say...weirdest part of his lecture…," Horatio shuddered as well.

"I hope I won't have nightmares tonight because of this," Stella commented and reached for her key card when they stepped out on their floor.

"Maybe you can sue him, who knows," Horatio joked and stopped at his room door. "Thanks for keeping me company tonight during dinner, even though you weren't hungry at all," he smiled.

"As I said, I just did it for you, Horatio," she played along.

"And I feel honored for that," he chuckled and opened his door. "Have a nice evening and in case you got nightmares, I think his room number is 619, so you can confront him."

"That's very thoughtful of you, thank you," she shook her head and patted his shoulder. "Have a nice night, Horatio."

"You too, Stella. And if something is wrong, don't hesitate to give me a call."

"I'll keep that in mind, but I hope that there won't be any giant bugs in my room," she smirked and walked to her room. There, she turned around and gave him a last wave, before she finally entered the room and closed the door behind her.

"I'll hope that too," Horatio said to himself and shuddered at that thought. Entomology would never be one of his favorite subjects within the CSI world.

_**Tbc**_

**Can you hear the green button calling? I can^^**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: This is going to be a long chapter, but I hope you don't mind. Thanks to those two people who reviewed. It means a lot to me. But still.. *sigh* I certainly wouldn't mind hearing more from my dear readers. :-) **

**Chapter 03**

The next day found Horatio in one of the other seminar rooms, which had been changed into a small lab. This seminar was actually the only one which had caught his eyes right from the beginning, because it was about bombs and other explosive stuff. As an old member of the Bomb Squad, there'd been no way, that he would miss such an interesting seminar. There was always something new to learn, especially once you're out of this field and so he was listening closely to what the instructor was presenting in his presentation.

The man had started with the most common bombs and what they're made off. Then he had continued with different types of explosives and was now showing them with pictures how to put a bomb together.

"The most dangerous bombs are actually the ones of amateurs," the instructor, Patrick Snow, said and switched to the next slide. "A real professional knows how to build a bomb, which won't explode by just looking at it. No, the amateur is the real problem here. What makes it even worse is the fact, that you can hardly tell by looking at the bomb who had made it, so I can only advice you to call an expert, mainly the Bomb Squad. Of course, they can't see it either, but they do have certain instruments to defuse a bomb without being in close distance," he continued and stopped when he heard a knock on the door. "Come in please," he called and smiled gently at the person who entered the room.

"You're a little late," he stated in his best teacher's voice, "but not too late to leave again, please have a seat," he continued and pointed to the free seat next to Horatio.

"Thank you," the person mumbled and quickly made their way to the seat and sat down. It was always an awkward situation when you came in late, but the worst part was the fact that all eyes were glued on you.

Horatio couldn't help but chuckle. "Are you sure, that you're in the correct seminar?" he teased and grinned at his desk neighbor.

"It was either 'Return Of the Bugs part two' or 'Getting Blown Up In A Seminar Room For Beginner'," the person whispered and grabbed Horatio's note pad to get a sheet of paper.

"Hey," he exclaimed in disbelief. "Get your own one, Stella."

Ignoring his whining, she pulled out one sheet anyway, before she pushed the note pad back to him. "Now hush, Lt. Caine, I don't want to miss anything more than I already have."

"That's not fair," he mumbled to himself, but kept quiet when he noticed that Snow wanted to continue.

"Thank you," the man nodded and continued talking. "So where was I? Oh right, please call experts if you find a bomb, especially if you have no experiences with bombs at all. The problem is, that you always have just one try.. and if you make the wrong move, cut the wrong cable.. it was your last second on earth. Of course I know that calling the Bomb Squad and waiting for them is easier said than done, especially if the bomb has a timer," he sighed, "but your own safety is the priority here. Does anyone here in this room already had experiences with bombs on crime scenes?" he asked and nodded when he saw that most of the people raised their hands.

"I see, well since you're all sitting here alive, I take it as a good sign. Nevertheless, I thought that since this is a seminar and not a lecture, I would let you do some practical work, if that's okay with you."

"Oh it definitely is for me," Horatio mumbled and rubbed his hands. It had been a while since his last bomb encounter and he actually kind of missed it. Not that he missed the deadly sides of an explosion, but the puzzle behind it when he had to reconstruct the bomb.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Stella whispered and copied his notes. "You could have written a bit more neat, Horatio," she chided him, because some words were really hard to read.

"I would have, but how should I know that some woman would steal my paper, my pen and then copy my notes, which are really easy to read by the way, if you'd been here for the whole time," he countered easily and smiled to himself when he heard her light huff.

"Very funny, next time I'll go to the bugs and put them on your salad during lunch," she threatened and continued writing.

Ignoring the threat, Horatio concentrated on Snow's explanations.

"I thought that I would let you defuse a small bomb here. You can either work on your own or in groups of two. Of course the bombs are rather traps than real ones, but if you make the wrong cut, there'll be a bit of smoke, telling you that you did a mistake and actually would be dead or at least badly injured. I can assure you, that it is possible to diffuse them, since I built them myself. If you need help or have any questions, I and my assistant are glad to help you."

"So Stella, do you want your own bomb?" Horatio asked curiously and got up from his chair.

"I'm not sure if this would be a good idea, but then again, it's only a bit of smoke, right?" she replied and followed the other participants to the rear of the room, where the bombs were hidden beneath some cloth.

"Right," Horatio agreed and took the table that was across from Stella's to have a look at her.

"So, some are working on their own, some in groups, I'm really looking forward to the results," Snow said and motioned them to pull away the cloth. "Before you ask, you have all the time in the world, or at least till this conference comes to an end," he joked, "but normally it shouldn't take you more than an hour or two. But please don't stress yourself; this is no exam or something, just a little fun, which can probably save your life in the one or other way."

The first thing Horatio did, was slipping in a lab coat and putting on some gloves. Then he removed the cloth, put it away and took a closer look at the construction in front of him then. "Mr. Snow, I do have a question," he said and looked at the man in question.

"How can I help you Mr.-"

"Caine."

"..Mr. Caine?"

"Actually I was only wondering if cutting the timer would mean that the bomb is defused, or if there's a second mechanism that we have to find."

"Ah," the man smiled, "it seems like we have an expert here. Yes, there is a second mechanism, Mr. Caine. I didn't want to make it too easy."

"I see," Horatio nodded. "Thank you, Sir."

"You're very welcome, Mr. Caine. Is there someone else who's got a question?" he asked into the group and when someone raised his hands, he bid his goodbye to Horatio and walked away.

"Didn't want to make it too easy," Stella sighed to herself. She had never defused a bomb before or actually never had had the idea of doing so.

"I'm sure you'll make it Stella, just don't rush yourself. Take your time and think of it as a puzzle you have to solve. Snow said that it is possible to defuse it and from what I can see, he didn't lie," Horatio said and grabbed a tool to open the lid.

"Let's hope so, by goodness," she said and did as she was told. She really wanted to be successful, especially in front of Horatio. Of course she knew that he wouldn't think less of her if she didn't make it, but showing him what she was capable of sounded really nice.

Horatio just smiled at her last comment, but chose to not continue their conversation. No matter how easy a bomb looked, it always needed your whole concentration and Horatio was too proud and stubborn to fail in this little task.

***

About 45 minutes later, Horatio grabbed the magnifying glass and had a real close look at the different cables he was now facing. He had switched off the timer about 15 minutes after starting, but this had been the easiest thing to do. Afterwards a jungle of different wires, cables and possible triggers had greeted him and for the following 30 minutes he had methodically divided them into section A 'definitely useless' and B 'probably making it explode'.

Section A had been cut off pretty quickly afterwards and just like he had thought, nothing had happened and the room was still free of smoke. The decisions he now had to make were a bit trickier and therefore he grabbed a small, filigreed screwdriver in order to spread the different cables apart. He needed to find out where they were coming from and which of them was the wire that was giving the trigger its energy.

The cables were in different colors; which was nice because then you were able to tell which was which, but for now, it didn't tell him which ones were fake or real. Looking up from his task, he noticed that Stella was still struggling with the wire for the timer, but since she was in so deep concentration and he didn't want to spoil her fun, even though she didn't look like she had any, he decided not so say something, but to concentrate on his own work.

After much debating, he grabbed for the pliers and took a deep breath. He was fairly sure that this green cable was a trap, but in the end the only way to find out was cutting it.

Very carefully, he pushed away the other cables and then cut the green one through. Holding his breath he waited for any kind of reaction, but there was none, which was the best reaction at all. _"Phew,"_ he thought to himself, _"that was close. And still two more to go."_ This wouldn't be easy at all, since both looked like a trap and like the correct one the same time. And to be honest he had no idea which one he should chose.

"Any way I can help you?" Snow suddenly asked and leaned down to have a look at Horatio's progress. "Ah, the 50:50 chance," he smiled, "you got a favorite?"

"To be honest, no," Horatio shook his head. "Experience tells me that the red one might be the correct one, but then again, it always depends on the builder."

"Experience, huh? I have already wondered if you have any experiences with bombs, since you're faster than everyone else."

Smiling at that, Horatio put away the pliers and straightened up a bit. "I was a member of the Miami Dade Bomb Squad for a couple of years, so yes, I do have some experiences with these things."

"I see," Snow said in realization. "But it doesn't make it a lot easier now does it?"

"For the timer…it did make it easier, but now? No…I don't think that it helps a lot."

"So if you were still with the Bomb Squad, what would you do, Mr. Caine?"

"I would opt for the robot, because I can't tell for sure which one is which," he told him honestly.

"Well it's a good thing that this bomb isn't dangerous at all, hm? But I would agree with you, choosing the robot is always a good idea if one is not hundred percent sure. I'm glad to hear that the instructors in Miami do care for their people and rather opt for the safe side than risking someone's life."

Thinking about Al, Horatio could only nod. Al Humphries had never wanted to see his colleagues in danger. He would have rather tried to defuse the bomb on his own, than leaving it to his team. And this thoughtfulness had eventually cost him his life. "I agree," he sighed and pushed those thoughts away. Al had died while trying to save an innocent's life. He was a hero and always would be.

Snow just nodded. "Then I will leave you to this and I'm sure that you'll make the right decision. When you hear a beeping, you made it."

"I hope so," Horatio mumbled to himself and looked at the man, who was already talking to the next table. Funnily enough, Horatio hadn't noticed that he was clad in blue; a blue shirt, blue trousers and a blue jacket. _"This guy seriously likes that color," _he grinned and suddenly realization hit him.

Quickly he tore his eyes away from Snow and looked at his two cables again, which looked so innocently. It was a red cable and a _"Blue one, gotcha, Snow."_. Horatio had learned one thing pretty early in his career; a bomb builder would always put something personal into his creation. If it was a cigarette, a penny, a stamp, it didn't matter. There was always something that would hint to the builder. And the fact that Snow seemed to love blue and he had used a blue cable, couldn't be a complete coincidence.

"_There's nothing to lose, H,"_ he told himself and smiled broadly when the beeping sounded. "Ha!" he chuckled and actually felt really good.

"Congratulations, Mr. Caine. I knew you could make it. If you want to, you can either leave early or you can stay here and help one of the others," Snow congratulated him. "It seems like experience isn't that bad at all, hm?"

"Not really," Horatio grinned and shook hands with the man. Taking a quick glance at Stella, he shook his head. "I think I'll stay a bit longer, there's still something I need to find out."

"You do that, Mr. Caine," Snow shrugged and certainly wouldn't stop him.

"Thank you, Sir," Horatio replied easily and smiled when he heard a "Congratulations" coming from the table across from him. "Thanks. How far are you?"

"I cut off the timer and now I'm struggling with the inside, but I think I already picked out some that have nothing to do with the trigger."

"That's good, I'm sure you'll make the right decisions. If you need any help, please tell me, okay?"

"I will," Stella smiled and winked at him. "But your cryptic notes will probably help me."

"Mhm, I think you just messed up your chance for getting my help," he chuckled and cut through the last remaining cable. He wanted to find out why this one would have been the wrong decision and since the bomb was defused now, he could experiment with it.

"Aww, you're mean," Stella pouted cut through the one or other wire.

"I know, but you like me anyway," Horatio countered and nodded to himself when he realized why this one had set off the bomb. The cable only contained one wire instead of two and so the circuit would have been broken.

"But only because of your notes," she giggled.

"Well now I know why Mac sent you here, he needed some time off from you, because you're so mean," Horatio deadpanned and stripped off his coat. He needed to go somewhere and now that he had solved the puzzle, he allowed himself to leave his work place.

"And that's why you're leaving now?" she asked confused, when she realized his plan.

"Yes, just because of you," he laughed. "And because I need to go somewhere," he then added in an afterthought. "But don't worry I'll be right back."

"Why thank you," she fluttered her eyelashes. "You're too good to me."

"You're very welcome, Ma'am," he shook his head at her and then quickly left the room, before something awkward would happen.

"Such a clown," she rolled her eyes and focused her attention on the bomb lying in front of her. She did like puzzles, but not the kind of that would explode around you when you made a single mistake.

A couple of minutes later, Horatio entered the room again and was still very pleased with himself for being able to dismantle the bomb and doing this in a relatively short time as well. Now he just wanted to see how Stella was doing with her project and wait for her so they could have lunch together.

Just when he arrived at his own desk, he saw something that made him stop dead in tracks and wanting to jump forward the same time, which must have looked like pretty funny to everyone else. "Stella no!" he hissed because he didn't want to shout.

Confused she let go of her work and looked at him. "What's wrong?"

"It's the wrong cable," he replied and walked to her desk. "The one you wanted to cut through, it will make the bomb explode."

Looking between the cable and him, she shrugged and did as she was told. "Okay, but how do I find out which one I should cut?" she then asked curiously.

"We'll find a way, I promise," he smiled at her. "Do you have a knife?"

"Hm, I think I saw one, let me have a look," she said intrigued and after some searching, she really found one. "Here you go."

"No, no, you can keep it for yourself. I'm just the helping hand, you do the hard work."

"Oh well," she sighed playfully, "isn't that what every woman loves to hear?"

"I'm not sure, but since you seem so pleased with it, the answer is probably yes," he chuckled and played along.

"Funny. But okay, what should I do with the knife, my little helper?"

"Okay, you have three cables here as you can see; green, red and blue. One doesn't contain a wire, one contains…one and the other one contains two."

"And the one with the two wires is the one I need to defuse the bomb," she followed his thoughts.

"Correct, while the other two will either make the bomb explode…or nothing happens at all," he agreed. "Now is the question, how can you find out which cable contains how many wires."

"Hmm," this was a very good question. "Well since I don't have x-rays," she grinned, "I think the patient needs to get opened."

"You're right about that doctor Stella," he chuckled. "Let me hold up the cable, so it's a bit easier for you."

"Thank you nurse Horatio," she giggled and pointed to the green one. "Let's start with this."

"As you wish, Ma'am," he replied and was quite happy that she wanted to start with this one in particular, since there wouldn't be a wire, which she could nick by accident.

With the help of Horatio and the magnifying glass it was easy for her to see which cable she was actually cutting; the only problem now was, not to cut too deep, because this could set off the bomb's trigger as well. "Should I cut here?" she asked quietly and tapped the knife on the cable.

"Let me give you a bit more space then," Horatio replied as quiet and changed the position of his fingers a bit, brushing her hand while doing so. "Now it should work."

Smiling, she nodded and leaned a bit down to have an even closer look. "We'll see," she whispered and carefully cut through the cable's fabric. "Hmm," she mumbled to herself, when there was nothing inside.

"What's wrong?" Horatio asked and definitely liked this situation; being so close to her and being a teacher in a way, was a very nice combination.

"I think I hit the jackpot and found the one without any wire," she sighed a bit disappointed. "Too bad."

"Why's that? Take it as training in using the knife and now you know that you have to be extra careful," he disagreed.

"You always find something positive, huh?" she teased and pointed at the red cable.

"Not my fault, you can blame my team for that," he chuckled and carefully held up the red cable. "Especially Calleigh, there's nothing that can crush her positive, southern character."

"So you like that, mhm? Positive thinking…people?" she asked launched into the next cut.

Not missing the double entendre he shrugged. "You could say that, yes. There's enough negative in the world, so a positive world view isn't all that bad, right?" he said and leaned down a bit so he was able to follow her moves completely. "Hey, don't cut into my finger," he exclaimed softly. "I still need it."

"Sorry," she smirked and looked up, realizing that his face was so close that she could actually feel his breath. "I won't do it again, I promise."

"Good," he smiled at her and quickly looked down again. "Let's see which one you've found now."

Following his example, Stella looked down as well and cut through the material. "I think.. I think I can see one wire...yes…there's only one. So you were right, the bomb would have exploded if I had cut through it."

"I had the advantage of already knowing which would be the right one," Horatio shook his head. "I was lucky that I chose the right one."

"You didn't use this technique?" she asked surprised.

"No, I noticed that Snow was wearing blue clothes and so I made the connection that the blue cable would be the right one. But.. in the end.. I could have been wrong and the bomb would have exploded. I was just lucky. Afterwards I had a look at the other cable and found out that it only consisted of one wire, so I knew this one would have set it off."

"So you played with fire?" she asked a bit shocked.

"In a way, yes. I already told Snow that I would have used the robot, but since nothing could actually happen, I trusted my gut feeling and it was right this time."

"Funny, I didn't know that gut feeling was also working with bombs," she commented.

"If you have bad luck it's definitely not working at all," he chuckled and handed her the pliers. "The final cut and it's over."

"That's good, I'm already getting hungry," she giggled and with a final sigh, she cut through the blue cable and smiled broadly when the beeping started. "Woohoo we made it," she cried out happily and wrapped her arms around Horatio's neck.

"No you made it, I've just been the little helper," he laughed just as happy and blushed when she kissed his cheek.

"I don't care if you were only my little helper, we made it as a team," she corrected him and took a deep breath and eyed her friend, who suddenly had pink cheeks. He looked adorable like this, but she wouldn't tell him of course. "Thank you, Horatio. This was great."

"The pleasure was all mine."

"Oh we have the next winner, congratulations Ma'am," Snow joined in. "I see that you cut through the cable first and then had a look at the wires inside? A very good idea and the safest as well."

"Oh actually this was-" she wanted to correct Snow, but was interrupted by Horatio.

"You just need some strong nerves to do so," he said. "And I think we both deserve some lunch now, what do you think Stella?"

"I uhm..," actually, she still wanted to tell Snow that it hadn't been her idea, but seeing Horatio shaking his head, she decided to leave it alone. "Yes, I think so too."

"Well then I won't stop you. Enjoy your meal then," Snow smiled and shook hands with both of them.

"Why didn't you want me to correct him?" Stella asked when they exited the room. "It was your idea after all."

"I know, but you did all the work, so the praise was all yours. We learned this technique during our training, so it wasn't _my_ idea so to say."

"You really are one of a kind, Horatio," she shook her head playfully at him, while they walked to the restaurant.

"You know what? I take that as a compliment and run with it," he smiled. "What do you think about going shopping after lunch?"

"Shopping? But what about the other lectures?" she asked surprised.

"Well didn't you tell me yesterday that you need some Christmas presents? I need some too so.."

"Yes, yes I did, but what would Mac say about this?"

"Well Mac isn't here and after all this hard work today, we really deserve some free time, don't you think? Plus, I'm a Lieutenant, Mac's only a Detective, so my order has to be followed."

"Well if you make it an order," she sighed, "I have to follow it indeed and will tell Mac that he should complain to you if he finds out about me skipping the informative lectures."

"Ah, he's only a Marine, I think I can manage him," Horatio joked and opened the door for her. "So a light lunch and then shopping? I can't believe I actually ask a woman to go shopping, I must be insane."

Laughing, she walked through the door. "It's too late to make a retreat. Your fate is sealed."

"Oh damn…," he mumbled and followed her into the restaurant. "I must have inhaled some of the smoke inside the bombs when I said something about shopping," he sighed and chose to ignore her laughing. Now this could be fun, the question was just for whom.

_**Tbc (if you wish)**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: Sorry for this loooong delay, but I didn't think that people were still interested in this story. Thanks to both Daxy and **__**MHBTNC2014 for your reviews. **_

**Chapter 04 **

"I still can't believe that they set off the fire alarm," Horatio laughed when he got out of the cab, which had driven them to the shopping mile. "I'm not sure if Snow will be part of the next conference." Stella and he had been eating their lunch, when suddenly the fire alarm had started and everyone had been asked to leave the building. Later they had found out, that one of the bomb traps had been exploded and the smoke had been enough to start the alarm.

"I feel actually very bad for him, his idea had been great," Stella commented and graciously accepted Horatio's helping hand.

"True, it was at least a bit more interesting than all the other stuff," Horatio agreed and turned up the collar of his black coat. It was really cold outside and even though he was wearing a scarf and some leather gloves, it was still too cold for his liking. "I hope they won't charge him with something, though I doubt that. Things like this can happen.."

"True. I mean, Mr. Grissom's bugs could have also escaped and spread panic in the whole hotel," she agreed and grinned at her companion, who was trying his best to cover all of his skin that was open to the cold. "Are you cold?" she teased him.

"Easy for you to say, it's the same weather in New York," he huffed and shoved his hands into his pockets. "We probably should have listened to the driver's advice and go to the shopping mall outside the city."

"Well it was you who told him, that we also want to see something from the city, so stop complaining. You'll get warm from all the walking, I promise."

"Well this is rather worrying than soothing actually," he commented and looked around. "So, what do you need?"

"Oh.. I actually have all my presents for the team, I just need a present or two for our smallest member," she smiled. "And.. oh yes, I always get some kind of memorabilia from the cities I've visited, so I need to get that too. What about you? You've said you also need something?"

"Mhm, yeah… actually, I still need a present for Kyle," he sighed and motioned her to start on this side of the shopping mile. "I already have a present for my nephew Ray, but with Kyle...it's a bit trickier."

"Hm, okay," Stella mumbled. "And what did you get Ray? Maybe you can get Kyle the same?" she asked and smiled when he seemingly without thinking, decided to walk on her left, so she could have a look at the shop windows and wouldn't walk next to the street.

"Well it was easy with Ray, he gave me a piece of paper where he'd written down some computer games and after I double checked it with Yelina, I bought them." Seeing her grin, he just shrugged. "I'm not so much into that kind of things and in the past, he had tried to trick me into getting him games that his mother hadn't allowed. I guess I don't have to mention that she washed his head, once she'd found out by accident," he chuckled softly.

"No.. no you don't have to," Stella laughed. "It seems like he can be a bit sneaky."

"Well he's a real Caine, sneaky and stubborn. Too bad for him, that his mother knows him and his uncle well, so she'd asked me what I wanted to buy. And after I got a tongue lashing from her about how I could even think about buying him such a game, I decided to always ask her before going to the store."

"It seems like she has you both under control," Stella commented and wondered how their relationship looked like.

"Oh well, she knows that I can't say no to him and that I have absolutely no knowledge about such games. She also knows that Ray would use that for his own benefit, so… yeah she does have us under control.. in a way," he explained.

"I see," she nodded lightly. "So this year you got the green light from her?"

"Absolutely, yes. I already got the games the last time I needed to go to the mall, so Ray's present isn't worrying me any longer, it's Kyle's that does."

"I take it that he's not into video games also?" Stella concluded.

"To be honest, I don't know," Horatio sighed.

"Oh."

"Yes, _oh_ puts it perfectly," Horatio pulled a face. "It's sad, isn't it? I can get presents for my nephew, but not for my own son."

Noticing the sad tone, Stella stopped and put a hand on his arm. "Don't be too hard on yourself Horatio. You've only known each other for a rather short period of time in comparison to your nephew. You are…still strangers in a way," she said softly, "but that doesn't mean that it has to stay this way and it doesn't mean that you won't find a nice present for your son. Don't think too negatively, okay? Weren't you the one who liked positive people?"

"Yeah," he mumbled, "that was me."

"Then don't bury your head in the sand. We will find something for Kyle," she said determined and wouldn't leave this shopping mile without a present for the boy. "What kind of hobbies does he have?"

"Oh I don't want you to worry about that, you need to find something for Lucy," Horatio quickly said, because he really didn't want her to get caught up in his search for a present and totally forget her own plans.

"Horatio," Stella sighed a bit annoyed. "What kind of hobbies does he have?" she asked a second time, totally ignoring his objection.

"I'm not quite sure," he admitted in defeat. "He likes sport…and music...clothes...just like every teenage boy I guess." He really was lost when it came to his own child.

"Okay, that's a good start. Music…hmm, do you know what kind of music? Rock? Pop? Metal? Something like that?"

"I..uhm..," he furrowed his brows. "Hmm, I think he listens to all of it," he shrugged rather helplessly. "But I don't know what Bands he likes."

"Okay, this makes it a bit harder, but not impossible. Why don't you get him a voucher for some online music store? There he can chose what he likes and spend the money. This way you won't buy him a CD that he doesn't like." Life could be pretty easy sometimes.

Stunned, he looked at her and then shook his head. "I've never thought of that actually," he admitted.

"That's because you're used to getting a wish list like Santa does," Stella laughed. "Leave it to a woman and she'll find something."

"I can see that," he chuckled. "Okay a voucher for an online music store, this sounds good. I think I've heard him talking about one in particular."

"See? Then he'll like the gift. If you have your laptop with you, you can order one once we're back in the hotel and it will arrive on time."

"Yes, I do have it with me," he said. "But is that enough?"

"Enough?" she asked confused. "What do you mean?`

"Well, I don't know, do you think a single voucher would be enough as a present for your son?"

Stella's eyes went a little bit wider than they normally were. "Oh..uhmm..," she mumbled. "It's not that I have any experiences with that so..," she shrugged and gave him a smile when she saw the look on his face. "You've said something about sport, right? What sports does he like?"

Looking at his hands, he took a deep breath. This was once again a very good question and he felt very bad for not being able to answer it straight away. "He likes basketball."

"Okay, that's good. Any particular team?"

"I don't think so; he always wears caps with different emblems. So I don't think that he's particular fond of any team, but rather collecting caps of basketball teams."

"Then get him one of the Boston Celtics, hm? I'm sure we'll find a store where you get one."

"You really do make me feel like an idiot, Stella."

"Why's that?" she asked confused.

"Because you come up with all these ideas in not even five minutes and I'm racking my brain for days now," he laughed lightly. This was absolutely ridiculous.

"Well," she grinned confidently, "I'm magic and it only cost you a nice dinner."

"A dinner, huh? Well, we'll see," he chuckled and became more serious again. "Okay, a cap. Anything else?"

"I don't know, Horatio. Really, I don't. It depends on you and only you. If you decide that's enough, then it is; if not…then we'll have to find something else."

"Yeah, on the one hand I want to spoil him…but then again, I'm not sure if this would do us any good. I don't want it to look like…like I want to bribe him, you know?"

"I understand. So...what's your wish?"

"My wish?" he blinked.

"Yes. If I give you a sheet of paper now, and you can write down one wish on it, what would it be?"

He didn't have to think about that. "Spending more time with him."

"Then why not combining your own present...with your son's present?"

"You're talking in riddles, Stella. My present and his present?"

Oh my, men could be really slow sometimes, even CSIs. "I'm not talking in riddles Mr. Caine, you just can't follow my lines of thinking," she chided him. "But since I have a good day, I'll explain it to you. He likes sport, you like sport, right?"

"Right," he nodded, still not knowing where this was going.

"Okay, then why don't you get him a voucher for a basketball game for both of you? This way, his present will be the game and yours...spending time with him. It's just that easy," she grinned and was very pleased with herself. She really had some great ideas today.

"Stella," he started and shook his head, "I think dinner tonight is nowhere near enough of how I could thank you for your help."

"Well," she winked at him, "I also want a dessert, a big one, with lots and lots of chocolate."

Laughing, he couldn't help but give her a big hug. "Okay, okay.. a dessert too, with lots of chocolate," he said. "And now we'll concentrate on your gift, okay? When we see a Celtic store, we'll get the cap and I'll have a look for the voucher for the game when I'm online tonight."

"This sounds like a plan, Mr. Caine," she grinned and linked arms with him, without even thinking about it. "Let the shopping begin."

A couple of stores and seemingly a thousand miles later – that's at least what Horatio's feet were telling him – they entered a smaller children's clothing store. At first they had had a look at toy stores, but somehow, there was nothing that had caught their eyes, or rather said Stella's eyes at all. On the one hand, Lucy was only a few months old and Stella wasn't really sure what was useful for such a small child and on the other hand, as far as she knew, Danny's and Lindsay's apartment was already flooded with various types of bears, dogs and other kind of plush animals, so she was sure that they would be happy if their zoo wouldn't grow even more. That's why she had decided to try her luck in a clothing store, hoping to find something nice for the little girl.

"So, do you have any idea what size she needs?" Horatio asked while wandering through the rows and taking a look at all the clothes that was surrounding them.

"Not really, but then again, it's not that bad if it's a little bit too big now, she will grow after all," Stella said and stopped at some little dresses. "This looks all so sweet," she smiled from ear to ear and picked out a pink one. "What do you think?"

"I don't want to spoil your dreams, but I don't think that you'll fit into it," Horatio commented and grinned when she shot him a glare.

"If this is your way of telling me, that you don't like it, then you can either keep it to yourself or give it to me straight forward."

Rising up his hands in defense, he tried to defuse this very special Grecian bombshell. "I didn't say that I don't like it," he corrected her. "I just don't know if you should get her a dress. That's all."

"And what should get her then, Mr. Caine? A suit?" she asked sarcastically and put the dress away.

"No", he chuckled. "But preferably something, that she can wear more often. Think about it Stella, when will she wear a dress? Only when there's something to celebrate. A birthday for example and her mom dresses her up. But how many birthdays will there be? One? Maybe two? And then she's grown out of it. I probably see it a bit more practical," he shrugged, "but why buying a dress she can wear one time, instead of some... I don't know... trousers... skirts… that she can wear much more often?"

She hated to admit it, but he was somehow right. Too bad actually, since this dress was so sweet and Lucy would look adoring in it. "Okay, I get it… no dress, but something more useful. A pullover maybe?"

"Maybe, yes," he agreed. "Or some pajamas, a jacket, or as I already said some trousers or skirts. I'm sure you'll find something here."

"Oh you also have to have a look," she told him. "Or we'll be here for the next couple of days," she giggled. "And I don't want to miss my dinner and dessert."

"Just for once," he nodded and pointed to the trouser section. "Since I'm not so much into skirts, I'll have a look over there, okay?" he asked, but actually didn't wait for an answer; but walked to the sheer endless rows of trousers. Some were cotton made, some jeans and he had to admit, that they indeed looked adorable with these animals and other kind of figures on them.

Wandering around, he suddenly found himself in the night wear section of the shop and smiled gently at the tininess of the clothes. It really made him wonder how something so small and precious, could become so tall in only a couple of years. Carefully, he took out a pink nightgown with a unicorn on it. It did look sweet with these frills.

Just when he wanted to call Stella, something else caught his eyes. Right next to the dresses, was seemingly the boys' section and the PJ in front made his heart not only melt, but also break into pieces. On it was a bear dressed in a police uniform and in the background there was a police car to be seen. It was the perfect gift for a police officer's child. It would have been the perfect gift for him and Kyle.

What if he had known about Kyle? Would his son have worn such a PJ? What would he have looked like then? Horatio didn't know, didn't know what his son had looked like as a baby, because he'd never had the chance to see him. Never had the chance to hold him, dress him in a PJ and never would have the chance ever again. He didn't have a photo of his own son as a baby, so how should he imagine what he must have looked like?

He felt incredible sad, when he thought about things like this; about all the things that he had missed in his own son's childhood, all the things that he would never experience with him, because he couldn't turn back time, as much as he wanted to. And heaven knew how much he wanted that; turning back time, finding out about Julia's pregnancy and being a real father for the boy. Being there whenever he was needed, being the type of father he never had himself.

So lost in thoughts, he didn't notice Stella approaching. She had tried to call him, but realizing that he was deep in thoughts she'd decided to go to him. Whatever thoughts he had, they weren't good. She could see that in his face. "Horatio?" she asked softly and patted his arm. "Are you okay?"

Horatio couldn't help but jump slightly when he heard Stella's voice and instantly pushed his thoughts away. "Yes, sure. I'm okay. Here have a look at what I've found," he said as if nothing had happened and handed her the nightgown. Quickly, he put away the other pajama and waited for her reaction.

Raising an eyebrow, she eyed him and inwardly shook her head at his antics. Deciding, that she would call him on his behavior later, she decided to play along and looked at the gown. "This is really nice," she smiled. "Even though you actually wanted to have a look at the trousers," she teased.

"I know," he looked at his hands and got a bit shy. "The one second I was looking at Jeans and the other I was suddenly surrounded by nightwear. Blame it on the shop's segmentation."

"You're full of excuses," she laughed and really liked this side of him. She was sure that very few people had a chance to see it and she felt very privileged for being one of them. "But since you've found this nice gown, I'll forgive you."

"You're too good to me," he smiled lightly. "You want to take it? This way you still get your pink dress."

"You know what? I think I'll really take it, along with a nice pullover I've found over there. Would you mind holding the gown so I can get it?"

"No, I certainly won't mind," he smiled at her and took the nightgown. "I'll wait here and you can continue your search."

"Oh I won't," she laughed, "or they'll need a second cupboard and me a second job so I can pay the bills."

Chuckling, Horatio decided to have a seat in one of the chairs that were located everywhere, because he was fairly sure, that Stella would still need some more time to have a look around. Women were all the same after all. Carefully, he laid the gown in his lap and stretched out his legs. He wasn't used to go shopping, especially not with a lively woman and his muscles were totally agreeing with that.

"Hey, can I help you?" a young woman suddenly appeared next to him.

"Ah, no, we're still looking and have actually found something," he smiled and gestured to Stella and the gown.

Looking at Stella and the gown, the woman smiled broadly. "Oh it'll be a girl. Congratulations, Sir. Should I take the gown with me, so you and your wife won't have to carry it?" she asked politely and had no idea that she was totally off the track.

Horatio immediately felt the warmth on his cheeks and hoped that he wasn't as red as he felt. "I..uh…," he stammered and tried his best to get out of this situation; and if giving her the gown would help him with that, he would do that. "Yes, sure you can do that..," he quickly mumbled and handed her the clothes. "I think.. I think I'll have a look what my…wife...has found now," he stood up and quickly made his way to Stella, leaving a stunned vender behind.

"Didn't you want to wait?" Stella greeted him cheekily, while trying to decide between two different pullovers. "What do you think? The green one or the- Horatio why are you so red?"

"It's…getting warm here," he said the first thing that came into his mind, though it wasn't a complete lie at all. He did feel rather hot suddenly.

"Oookay," Stella said and didn't believe a single word. "If you say so," she added and once again decided to leave it alone. "So which one should I take?"

Happy, that she didn't interrogate him about his rather odd behavior, Horatio eyed the two pullovers. "They look the same," he stated.

"Well thank you captain obvious, I already noticed that. I just want to know if I should take the green or the yellow one," she sighed and wondered what the heck was going on with him.

"I like the yellow one," he said. "It reminds me of the sun, the sun reminds me of Miami, Miami reminds me of home and home-"

"I get what you're trying to say," she interrupted him and put away the green pullover. "Then the yellow one it is. Where do you have the gown?"

"Oh, yes, a vender already took it so you have your hands free," he replied and took the pullover out of her hands. "So do you need something more?"

Pleasantly surprised by this gesture, she shook her head no. "I think that's enough, or they'll get mad at me for spending so much money," she smiled and motioned him to take the lead.

"If you say so," he shrugged and had no intention of arguing with her.

"I do," she said and when they walked by the row where she'd found him a couple of minutes before, she had a closer look at the pajama he had quickly stashed away. Seeing the police bear at the front, she knew what had been on his mind, and she felt really sad for the man in front of her. Never knowing about your own child and missing all the important steps in its life had to be so hard, she couldn't even imagine what was going inside of him.

But knowing how happy Danny and Lindsay looked when they had Lucy on their arm or just talked about her, made her mad at the woman that had withheld this happiness from Horatio. In this very moment, she wasn't sure how she would react if she met this particular snake. All she knew was that it wouldn't be pretty.

"Hey, how are you? Did you find everything?" the vender greeted the two and took the pullover from Horatio.

"We did, thank you," he smiled and hoped that she wouldn't start with the whole wife and child thing again.

"Could you gift wrap the two things?" Stella asked and reached for her purse.

"Sure, that's no problem," the woman replied and looked at Horatio who bid his lips in order not to smile. She definitely had misread the situation and felt a bit stupid right now. Though thinking that the two were married and looking for clothes for their child wasn't that stupid at all.

Stella, who had no idea about the conversation that had taken place earlier, just smiled. "Thank you."

A few moments later, they had exited the store and were now standing on the sidewalk. "So what else do you need, Stella?"

"Well I have the present for Lucy, you have the cap for Kyle," she mumbled, "means I just need my memorabilia and that should be it. Are you sure that you can still walk?" she smiled sweetly at him.

"Not really, but I don't have any other choice now, do I?" he shot back easily and pointed to a typical shop for tourists. "Maybe you'll find something there, let's have a look," he said and didn't wait for her approval, but just walked towards it.

"Hey," Stella complained and quickly followed him. "That wasn't nice," she said and had a look at the things in the window. "Hmmm now I just need to find something that reminds me of Boston."

"Why don't you take the cup there? And the tea that comes with it? I mean come on, what's more famous than the Boston Tea Party, hm?"

"I hate to admit it, but you're right with that one. Let's have a look what kind of tea it is," she said and this time it was her who didn't wait for an answer, but just entered the store.

"That's not nice," he called after her and rolled his eyes. This woman really was a handful.

_**TBC if you wish**_


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thank you for your reviews, they mean a lot to me.**

**Chapter 05**

"So is this enough chocolate for you?" Horatio asked Stella when the waitress brought them their dessert. "A double, or no… make it a triple chocolate cake?" He had no idea how she could eat such a dessert after having a starter and a main course and stay so slim. She had to have a secret.

Smirking at him, Stella took a bite of her cake and closed her eyes in sheer bliss. This was chocolate heaven for sure. "Mhm, it's perfect," she sighed in delight and opened her eyes again. "I can't understand why you opted for the apple pie." Of course, a warm apple pie was always nice, but this chocolate cake was so much better.

"Because not everyone can stay that slim as you do while eating such desserts," he chuckled and enjoyed his own dessert.

After they had arrived at the hotel again, their ways had parted. Horatio had taken the chance to order the voucher for the online store and had already checked out the available cards for the next Heat's basketball games. Especially the one against the New York Knicks had caught his eye and he hoped that he could get two cards for this particular game. It was definitely a good thing that he knew the right people who could easily get him a card even though the game was already outsold, so he had quiet a good feeling about this. Now the only thing he had to worry about was Kyle's reaction to this special present.

Afterwards, he had gotten cleaned up and dressed into something more warm and water resistant, since the weather forecast had said something about snow in the evening. Then, he had waited for Stella in the lobby and together, they had taken a cab with which they'd driven back into the city. During their shopping tour, they had found a nice looking restaurant and had decided that they would spend their last evening there and not in the hotel restaurant.

And this had been the perfect decision. The meals had been delicious and Horatio couldn't remember when he had last eaten such a good, old home cooking. Of course there were some pretty good restaurants in Miami, but they were all more into new recipes and not into the 'old-school' type of cooking; something, Horatio dearly missed every now and then.

But not only the meals had been good, no, he had also very much enjoyed his company. He and Stella really got along very nicely and had talked along while eating. She did have a lovely temperament and Horatio liked that a lot. After Marisol, he hadn't went out with a woman, not even if it was just between two friends, and he was glad that Stella was the first one after all this time.

"You're just jealous," Stella interrupted his thoughts. "But we can share if you want to."

"Already full?" he laughed. "And now you want to be nice and share it with me, even though you actually can't take another bite?"

"Excuse me?" she asked shocked. "Horatio, really, have you ever met a woman, who wouldn't finish her chocolate cake?" she asked in a mocking voice. "I think you need some tutoring when it comes to women and chocolate."

"Probably," he chuckled, "but no, thank you. I won't come between you and your dessert. I'll stick with my apple pie."

"Your loss," she shrugged and took another bite. "So," she started, "what are your plans for Christmas?"

Not expecting this topic change, he gave her a surprised look. "Christmas?"

"Yeah, Christmas. You know this day where you get presents, sing songs and dance around the tree," Stella laughed.

"Ah, this one," he played along and shrugged. "I don't have any plans yet."

Now it was Stella's turn to be surprised. "No plans? Okay, this is a surprise. Won't you celebrate with Kyle?"

Playing with his cake, he shrugged again. "I'm not sure."

"Okay," she mumbled and inwardly shook her head. This was really strange, she surely would celebrate this special day with her family and she did consider a child as family of course. After a short silence, she went into it. "Why aren't you sure? Did you ask him if he wants to spend the day with you?" she asked gently, since she knew that this was a sensible subject.

"No, I didn't," he admitted after a while and surprised her even more with his confession.

"Why not?"

"Not sure if I'll like the answer I guess," he said and eyed his cake the whole time.

"Do you think he would say no if you ask him? Why should he do that?"

"He probably wants to spend the day with his mother, I don't know."

"And spending the day together, as in the three of you, wouldn't work out? In case he wants to spend the day with her, that is?"

"I'm not sure, probably not. We don't get along that well at the moment.. I mean… Julia and me. Technically we're still fighting over the custody even though he has already decided to stay with her."

"Hmm, I still think you should ask him. I know I'd love to spend this day with my parents, or at least one of them," she said.

"Won't you?" he asked surprised. "I mean, spend the day with your parents?"

"No," she shook her head. "I'll probably spend it with Mac.. and later on we might visit Danny and Lindsay, but I'm not sure."

Different kind of scenarios why she wouldn't spend the holidays with her parents went through his mind; they probably lived in Greece, or somewhere else in the States and it wouldn't work out with her time schedule. Or they probably had a bad fight and now weren't talking with each other any more. But why would she want to spend the day with them now? This didn't make sense. Or.. another possibility was, that her parents had already passed away.

"I don't have a family, Horatio," she smiled gently and stopped his inner musings. "Actually I never had a real one, since I grew up in foster care."

"Oh, I didn't know, I'm sorry that I brought this up," he quickly apologized and felt really bad.

"Don't be, there's no need. I've found my family in my friends, that's all I need. Yes, I admit, I don't talk often about it, but it's okay, don't worry," she patted his hand lightly. "But that's why I know where Kyle is coming from. He grew up in foster care, didn't he?"

"He did, yes. He'd been with several families, but somehow.. it never worked out. I haven't asked him a lot about it, and it doesn't seem like he wants to share, so I just know what I've read in his files," Horatio replied.

"It was the same for me, so I know that if I was Kyle, I'd love to spend the day with my parents, especially with my father who cares a lot for me."

Blushing slightly, he averted his eyes. "It's not that easy, he has a hard time trusting me and Julia knows how to pull the strings to keep him with her. Be it driving her sports car or living in a really, really big house or going to a private school. She knows what boys his age like."

"And I can imagine that he falls for all this cool stuff, who wouldn't? But I'm sure that he's a very clever guy and that he also knows that money isn't everything. Especially with his past. You should ask him, Horatio."

"He never made any noises that he wants to spend it with me," he pointed out with a sigh.

"Well he seems to be a lot like you, because and please correct if I'm wrong, you've never made any noises yourself, Did you?"

"No," he pulled a face. "Not really."

Smiling, she shook her head. "Give him a call, Horatio. And if he says that he wants to spend the day with you and Julia, then agree. I'm sure spending time with him is so much more important than the quarrels you have with her. It's only for a day, but he realizes that you mean it serious with him. The boy isn't dumb; he knows that his parents don't get along with each other."

"I'm sure he does and this doesn't make it easier."

"True, but don't concentrate on her, concentrate on Kyle and your relationship with him. Have you ever thought about the possibility, that he's also afraid to ask you to spend the day with him? That your answer might be no?"

Shocked, he looked at her. "I would never say no to him."

"You know that and I know that; but does he? Don't forget where he's coming from, Horatio. It took me years to completely trust another person and to believe that they won't let me down. So please, call him and you'll be positively surprised about his answer, I'm sure." It was easy to see, that this was very important for her.

And this didn't get unnoticed by Horatio. Gently he took her hand in his and gave it a light squeeze, to show her his appreciation. "I will," he promised and his tone showed her, that he meant it. He really had to do some calls once he was back; first Alexx and now his son.

"Good," she nodded her approval. "Don't forget that this is a one time chance to build up a steady relationship with your son; you've already missed his childhood, don't miss his adulthood too."

Remembering the situation in the clothing store, he shook his head. "I won't and I can't… he's too important for me."

"And in time, he will realize that, I promise you. He will realize that he can trust you and build on you. Just give him time, as difficult as it is; in the end the reward will be worth the effort."

"I'm sure it'll be," he agreed and let go of her hand, immediately missing the contact, but not admitting it to himself. "So," he tried to change the subject, if only a bit. "Celebrating with Mac, huh? So not the Grecian style?"

Laughing, she shook her head and didn't mind the changing; it was a difficult subject for Horatio and she didn't want him to get upset. "No, not the Grecian style. To be honest, I've never had a Grecian Christmas, I only know it from books," she said. "Just like the language, I'm more or less self-taught."

"Wow, that's amazing. It must be pretty hard to learn a language by oneself."

"It is, but I wanted to learn something about my roots, you know? I have a Grecian name and my ancestors came from Greece to New York, so yeah.. I was curious about this country," she said and was a little bit proud, because Horatio looked so stunned.

"That's really something to be proud of, Stella. I mean it.. you can be very proud of this," Horatio praised her and gestured the waitress to get their bill. "The dinner goes on me," he told Stella when she tried to find out how much she owed him. "And I don't want to hear any complaint, you helped me so much today, that's the least I can do."

"Well if this is your wish," she snickered, "it's fine by me."

"Good," he nodded and paid for their meal. "Are you ready to go?"

"Absolutely, I just hope that you don't have to roll me outside," she joked and smiled at him, when he helped her into her jacket.

"I told you that the third chocolate layer would be too much," he chided her and slipped into his own warm coat. "If you want to, we can go for a walk before we go back to the hotel?"

"This sounds like a very good idea," she nodded and bid him a thank you when he opened the door for her. Outside, the world was suddenly covered in white and it was still snowing.

"Oh wow," Horatio exclaimed surprised and looked into the sky. There were several clouds, but not enough to hide the moon, which illuminated the world in a sparkling white. Holding out his hands, he let the snow flakes fall into it. "It's really snowing."

Stella didn't know if he was aware of the fact, that he looked like a child at this very moment, who was absolutely mesmerized by the wonder of snow. It was a beautiful picture, the snow slightly covering his red hair and the moon light making it sparkle. He looked more than handsome like this. "Yeah," she said softly and looked away, before she could say something stupid. "Do you still want to go for a walk, or should we head back to the hotel?"

"No, it's fine with me, if it's fine with you. I don't mind a bit of snow, it's been years that I actually saw some live," he chuckled. "You ready?"

"I'm ready Mr. Caine," and once again linked arms with him. "I think there was a small park just around the corner."

"We'll have a look," he said and together they walked along the deserted street. "So, what I wanted to ask is, if you can speak Grecian, what does Merry Christmas mean?" He still found it very interesting that he had learned something so important about her tonight.

"In Greece we say Kala Christougenna," she said and laughed when she saw his face. "It's not that hard to pronounce."

"Yeah sure, if you have a knot in your tongue," he shot back and tried to say it out loud. "Kala..Christ.. what was it again?"

"Kala Christougenna," she told him again and found it cute that he had some difficulties with it, but still tried his best to say it.

"Kala…Christougenna…," he said very slowly. "And you learned that by yourself? Incredible," he commented amused.

"It comes with the time," she said and snuggled a bit up to him, because it was cold and well, it felt good.

Smiling at that, he didn't say anything. "I bet," he just said softly and let his eyes wander around. Sometimes he really missed the snow.

"So how do you say it in Irish?" Stella asked after a while.

"Merry Christmas?" he asked. "Well Merry Christmas is.. Merry Christmas," he teased her and let out an "Ouch" when she bumped her hip into his. "It's the truth, but in Irish Gaelic you would say Nollaig shona."

"And you tell me that you need a knot in your tongue? Who on earth can pronounce such a word," she exclaimed in mock annoyance.

"It comes with the time I guess," he laughed. "I'm in nowhere fluent when it comes to Gaelic, but my grandfather was very fond of it and so Ray and I had to learn at least some typical phrases; Nollaig shona being one of them."

"Interesting, so your grandparents came from Ireland to the US?" she asked intrigued.

"Exactly, my parents were born here, but my grandparents came from Ireland."

"Wow, that's great. What other phrases do you remember?"

"Oh.. hm.. not that many actually. I still know Ciamar a tha thu, how are you… Tapadh leat.. thank you.. and the one that was very important when Ray and I were teenagers...Gráím thú which means I love you," he thought out loud.

"Very important, huh?" it was her time to tease and was about to continue, when she suddenly felt something hit her back. Horatio must have felt the same, because they turned on their heels in perfect unison and looked into the laughing faces of two young boys who were already forming the next snowball.

"You little rascals," Horatio called and tried to duck away when one of them threw another ball, but he still got hit. "This cries for revenge," he laughed and looked at Stella. "Are you in on it?"

"Of course, I'll have your back" she just said and was already forming her own snowball. "It's against the law to shoot somebody into the back," she grinned and threw her snowball.

The boys just cried out in surprise and quickly jumped out of the way. "WAR!" they shouted and threw their balls at Stella.

Stella, who had suspected that, quickly hid behind Horatio's back, and so he was suddenly covered in snow.

"Oh that's what you meant with having my back, yes?" he quipped in fake annoyance and rolled his eyes when he heard her laughing. "Very nice of you, thank you."

"Blame your broad shoulders, which begged me to hide behind them," she grinned and continued the snowball fight, while hiding behind him.

"Hey," he spun around, "that's unfair, I'm not your wall," he pouted and grabbed her by the waist. "Now don't be a coward and face the enemy like a man.. woman.. you know what I mean," he chuckled about his own words.

"Spoil sport," she giggled when she was suddenly standing in front of him and got hit by the snow. "Let me go, Horatio," she demanded and tried to wiggle out of his grasp.

"Only if you promise me, that you won't use me as your shield any longer."

"Okay, okay I promise," she held up a hand. "And now let me go, or they'll win."

"And we can't let that happen," he said and let her go.

None of them could actually say how long that fight had prolonged, but suddenly, they had heard some callings of the boys' mothers and so the fast the war had begun, so fast it had ended suddenly. In the end, there were no real winners who had defeated their enemy, but they were all winners because they had had a lot of fun.

"Oh God, I haven't had a snowball fight for... decades," Horatio mumbled and tried to catch his breath. Plus he had totally forgotten that it could be quite exhausting too.

"Me too," Stella laughed softly and was out of breath too. "And I think it wasn't that exhausting when I was younger," she joked.

"I know what you mean," Horatio gave her a sheepish grin. "So.. I guess a snowball fight is as good as a walk, don't you think? Should we head back to the hotel?"

"Nope," Stella shook her head, because there was something else she wanted to do.

"Nope?" he asked surprised. "You still want to go for a walk?"

"Uh-oh," she shook her head no again and winked at him, when she noticed the confused look on his face. "There's something else I haven't done for years."

"Okay?" he asked. "And what would that be?"

"Building a snowman," she squealed and felt like a Five Year Old again.

"A snowman?" he asked incredulously. "Now?"

"Well we can't build it tomorrow and I'm sure you can't build a _snow_man in Miami, right?"

Furrowing his brows, he shook his head. "No. You really want to build one? I'm not even sure if I know how to."

"That's something you never forget, like riding the bicycle," she said and grabbed his hand. "And now stop thinking about it, we'll manage," she said and pulled him to an area where the snow was still untouched. "At first we need a big ball and from there on.. it will be easy…."

Horatio had no recollection of how they'd made it, but he was indeed looking at a – in his eyes – very impressing version of a snowman about half an hour later. It had taken him a few tries until he'd relearned how to roll the ball so it would become bigger, but in the end and with a little help from Stella, it had worked out. The other two balls had been, just like Stella had promised, a lot easier to build and while he had done all the work, Stella had been looking around for some accessories, so the snowman would have a face at least.

Right now she was giving the finishing touches and seemed to be very pleased with her work. "There you go, he would just need some red hair and he'd look just like you," she said and turned to Horatio when she heard a slight huff coming from his direction. "What?"

"Why does he look like me? He neither wears a suit... nor does he have sunglasses," Horatio pointed out. "It could also be a snowwoman."

"Horatio," she chided him softly, "if it was a woman, we would need at least two more smaller balls, don't you think?" she said and laughed when she noticed a faint blush on his cheeks. "See? So it's a he and the problem with the sunglasses is no problem at all." Just like she had expected his objections, she reached for some twigs and used them as the glasses frame. "Perfect."

"You're insane," he shook his head in disbelief. "A snowman with sunglasses, only you can have such an idea."

"Well, see it as the combination of both our cities. The snow represents New York and the sunglasses Miami," she replied easily and reached for her cell phone. "And now stand next to your mini-me so I can take a picture."

"I have no idea why I'm doing this," he sighed and did as he was told. "And I still don't think that he looks like me," he clarified his position.

"Uh-huh, say cheese," Stella ignored his ranting and pressed the release. "Perfect," she smiled broadly when the picture appeared.

"Let me see it," Horatio walked to her and tried to have a look, but she had already switched back to the main menu. "Hey that's unfair."

"That's life," she quipped and stashed the phone into her pocket. "But I think it's time to head back now, don't you think? Your coat is practically drenched and your hair is wet, I don't want you to catch a cold."

"Oh great, first you use me as your shield and now you're worried because I'm soaked," he pouted.

"Aww, hmm do you think I could make it up to you?"

"Probably," he answered shortly.

"Okay.. oh.. I have an idea. What would you say about a hot chocolate in my room?" Seeing his raised eyebrows, she rolled her eyes playfully. "It's only instant hot chocolate, but nevertheless tasty and most of all warm. What do you think?"

"So is this an invitation to come in after I took you out?" he challenged her; though he was rather used to come in for a coffee and not for an instant hot chocolate.

Stella had had enough dates in her life to know what exactly he was talking about and if she was honest to herself it made her quite nervous. "Well, I won't force you to have a cocoa," she replied a bit uneasily.

Feeling this slight shifting in their banter, Horatio gave her a soft smile. "I would really like to have a cocoa Stella and to be honest, yes, I'm getting a little cold here," he said in a voice that didn't hold any ambiguity any longer. "I was just joking before, I'm sorry if that made you feel uncomfortable."

Blushing slightly, she shook her head. "It's okay; you just caught me off guard."

"Something I've tried for the last two days," he joked and was relieved when she started to laugh. "Hey, it's not that easy to surprise you," he argued and together they made their way to the cabstand.

_Tbc if that's your wish_


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews. There will be one more chapter after this.**

**Chapter 06**

"Here you go," Stella grinned and handed Horatio a small towel to dry his hair. They had quickly found a cab, which had brought them to the hotel and as planned, they had headed straight to her room.

Once inside, Horatio had hung up his soaked coat and gotten rid of his shoes and was now sitting on the loveseat, waiting for Stella to dry her own hair in the bathroom. "Thanks," he smiled and took the towel from her. "Even though my hairstyle will be ruined now," he joked.

"What hair style?" Stella grinned mischievously and walked to the window. "The snow is getting heavier by the minute," she said casually and quickly made sure that the window was closed.

"I didn't hear that comment about my hair," Horatio huffed lightly and watched her while toweling his hair. He had noticed the small gesture, when she had checked the lock of the window, but didn't say anything. As a police officer, you were always a bit too cautious; it just came with the job. "Let's hope we're not snowed in tomorrow."

"Yeah," Stella mumbled and after a few moments, she turned to look at him. "Hm, I like this kind of hairstyle... it's wild," she grinned at him.

"Stop smooth-talk me, it's too late for that," he said and ignored the puppy dog face she was giving him. "No, no... this ship sailed a long time ago."

"You're mean," she sighed and watched him getting up from the couch. She had no idea why, but in an instant she felt herself stiffen up. "What are you doing?"

"Well since you didn't give me any chance to go to my room, I need to go somewhere…," he said and cocked his head to the side. "That okay?"

"Sure," she nodded. "Take your time and I'll heat up the water for the cocoa."

"Sounds like a plan, Ma'am," he agreed and vanished into the small bathroom. He knew that there was something odd going on, he just couldn't put a finger on it. The last two days had been really nice and relaxed, but since they had entered the hotel room, Stella seemed to be different. He couldn't say in what way different, but she wasn't her usual self, wasn't the cheerful, strong and quick-witted woman he knew.

Had he done something wrong? Had his comment about asking him to come in been out of the line? He had partly meant it as a joke and partly as a challenge to see how she would react on it and now he wasn't sure if this had been such a good idea at all. He had never wanted to make her feel uncomfortable in his company since their friendship was too important for him, but then again, she'd flirted a lot with him in the past, so this couldn't be the reason for her behavior, could it?

With a sigh he started the water to wash his hands and even though his mind was racing to come up with an answer it only came up with more questions. Taking a look in the mirror, he did his best to get his hair under control and then switched off the light, while entering the room.

The sight that was greeting him, made him stop dead in his tracks. Stella was standing in front of the door, checking if the door was locked accurately. Maybe… just maybe it had nothing to do with him as a person, but the whole situation they were in now. He slowly made his way to her and rested a hand on her shoulder. He had expected her to be surprised by this, but not to see her actually jump out of her skin.

"Stella, it's okay, it's me," he said soothingly when she turned around to her "intruder". "I'm sorry I scared you."

"It's.. okay I just.. haven't...expected you.. uhm..," she mumbled and blushed deeply. "Let me get the water," she said and quickly escaped out of his reach.

"Stella," he sighed and took a deep breath. "You do know, that I would never do anything that could harm you, right?" he said and slowly walked back to the loveseat, giving the obviously distressed woman some space.

"I know," she whispered in response and prepared the two cups. "I know."

"And I'm pretty sure that there's no one here who would harm you," he continued to talk and took the cup of cocoa from her.

Stella just nodded and took a seat next to him, leaving as much space between them as possible.

"Then why," he turned to her and put the cup next to hers on the table, "are you checking and double checking your room?" he asked and shook his head when she opened her mouth. "There's no need to deny it Stella, remember you're talking with a CSI here, we're supposed to notice such things," he said gently.

"I know.. it's just..," she shook her head and hid her face behind her hands.

"Stella," he said worriedly and moved a bit closer to her. As gentle as he could, he took her hands from her face. "There's no need to hide," he said and took her hands in his. Looking down, he immediately noticed the scars on them. "It's because of him, isn't it?" he asked, even though he already knew the answer. "He can't hurt you anymore."

"I know, but it's still.. it's...like he's still there, hiding somewhere just waiting for me like he did back then," she sighed frustrated and looked at her hands. These scars would always remind her of this day.

"I understand that," Horatio whispered and started to draw small circles on her fingertips with his thumb. "I really do and it's okay to feel like this. Being attacked in your own home, your refuge, your safe harbor…is horrible."

"How do you know about that?" she asked confused and blinked some tears away.

"Mac told me… a few days after the incident. I had called just to check up on you all and he was still so angry at this guy, that he told me without a second thought. And believe me, when I heard about it, I just wanted to take the next flight to New York and see how you were holding up, but Mac told me that you wouldn't want… two big guys being your shadows and following you everywhere," he said with a small smile. "If he hadn't been already dead, I would have killed him," he stated deadly serious. "This bastard would have had two enemies that would have haunted him down – Mac and me."

"Mac said that?" she asked.

"Yeah, you have no idea how mad he was at him and it was the same for me. This guy had hurt a woman that is very precious for both of us and he would have never have survived another day." He had killed Riaz in revenge for killing Marisol and he would have killed Frankie Mala for hurting Stella like this. There was no question about it.

Actually she should have been afraid of this. Afraid of the fact that this man sitting right next to her would have done such a thing for her…and yet, there was no fear. Instead she felt some kind of safety and relief that there was someone watching over her.

"I have always been so careful when it comes to men," she suddenly started and all the while stared at their joined hands. "I never invited them in my home, never let them pick me up there," she said and shook her head. "And yet he found me. Do you know how why I broke up with him?"

"No," Horatio replied softly, being positively surprised that she started to talk about this whole incident. "Why?"

"I'd found a homepage where he had uploaded videos of us doing…things.."

"He had taped you while having sex?" he asked unbelievingly.

"Yes," she whispered. "He made me a sculpture and had named it Aresanob… which means Soul of a woman.. or that's at least what he had told me. In fact, it was my last name backwards and when I searched for it in the internet I found this homepage with the videos. I destroyed the stupid sculpture and probably must have set off some trigger in him…because not long after that, he'd broken into my apartment."

"It wasn't your fault Stella, never," Horatio insisted. "It was his decision to make and you had every right to break up with him and destroy this sculpture."

"The CSI in me knows that," she nodded weakly, "but otherwise…," she trailed off.

"It's hard to believe it," Horatio concluded. "Bu this time, you have to trust the CSI in you. He'd done a horrible thing and he had no right to neither tape you during intimate moments, nor did he have the right to publish those videos. And breaking into your apartment...well I won't even start with that one."

"The scary thing is," she snuffled, "he technically didn't break into my apartment, not in a violent way anyway.. but had made a copy of my key. Can you believe that?" she asked and looked up at him. "You go into your apartment and suddenly someone else is standing there?" she asked.

"This is one of my worst nightmares," he whispered.

"And I lived it, Horatio. It was like in some stupid movie and I was in the middle of it. I thought that he would kill me and if I hadn't killed him first..," she sobbed and suddenly saw the madness in his eyes again.

"It's okay Stella, it's okay," Horatio quickly gathered her in his arms and ran a hand over her back. "It's okay, he can't hurt you anymore," he mumbled.

"I had to move into another apartment, because I couldn't stand the permanent memories any longer," she continued and wrapped her arms around him. "And even now, I don't feel safe; not in my home and not in some stupid hotel in Boston."

"It's normal to feel like this, it takes time to feel safe again, Stella. Don't stress yourself. Time will heal those wounds, I promise."

"But it's been four years Horatio, four years," she said harshly. "How long will it take?"

Horatio hadn't expected such an outburst, but he knew that she needed it to heal. As far as he knew, she'd never really talked to anyone about it and now these pent up emotions needed to get out. And he was more than willing to be her human punch bag. "That's a question only you can answer, Stella," he told her.

"I don't want him to control my life any longer but he still does. He still does Horatio," she said angrily. "Sometimes... sometimes I think he broke me... won over me, even though he's dead."

"No! No, he didn't win and no he certainly didn't break you, Stella." Now it was Horatio's time to get angry and talk some sense into her, as much as he hated to do that. "Listen to me Stella," he said and carefully freed himself from her arms. "And listen to me carefully," he continued and looked at her. "He didn't win; he's just some ghost hunting you. I know that feeling, believe me, I have enough ghosts hunting me every day, but I won't let them win. I enjoy my life too much for that and it's the same with you. If he had won over you, then we wouldn't have had such a great time for the last two days, because then you'd have locked yourself up in your room and never come out," he told her seriously.

"Do you understand what I mean? The fact that you can still enjoy your life makes you the winner in this battle." Gently he started to stroke her tears away. "I mean it Stella, you're such a wonderful woman… you have such a big heart and so much love to give…don't let him take that away from you. Please, don't let him do that," he whispered. "You're passionate and gentle, you have a heart of gold and the same time you can be strict when you need to protect your self. You're such a lively woman Stella and if he had won, you wouldn't be. I know that for sure."

"Horatio..I.."

"No, now it's you listening to me," he interrupted her sternly, yet gently. "This man doesn't even deserve to be called a man. He did something awful, hurting the woman he was supposed to cherish. There's no excuse for that. The fact that he still has such a bad impact on your life makes me hate him even more, but in fact...he doesn't even deserve that emotion. He doesn't deserve any. Don't look back Stella, don't let your past destroying your future. It's not worth it, he's not worth it."

"I know it's just," she started and looked down embarrassed. She knew all these things and still it was hard for her to act on them.

"Hey..," Horatio whispered and stroked her cheek with his thumb. "Look at me Stella." He really hated this man all the damage he'd done. "Look at me," he requested again.

It took her a moment until she followed his request. Blinking away the rest of her tears, she finally looked into his eyes and saw nothing but empathy in these deep blue orbs. No pity or apathy. There was only empathy and something she couldn't quite figure out.

Smiling gently when he saw her glistening green eyes he moved a bit closer to underline his next well chosen words. "You deserve so much more, Stella Bonasera. You deserve to be cherished and treated like the queen you are. You deserve someone who respects you, someone who knows when you need to stand up for yourself but equally knows when it's time to step in. You don't deserve someone who tries to control you and your life, but someone who walks the road with you; not in front of you or behind, but next to you. You deserve all these things."

Stella was sure that she'd never heard such words coming from a man before and to be honest, she didn't know what to say to him. She was positively at a loss of words. "Oh Horatio," she mumbled and couldn't help but let the tears falling again.

Smiling at her, he reached for a handkerchief. "Now now.. no more tears," he said. "Regardless of happy or sad ones, okay?"

Stella just nodded and took the handkerchief from him. She was sure that her make-up had to be smeared all over her face due to her tears, and yet she tried her best to avoid smearing it even more. Without thinking, she blew her nose and was totally embarrassed when she saw his face. "Oh got Horatio I'm sorry," she stammered, because this wasn't a nice way.

Horatio couldn't help but laugh. "It's fine, Stella, Really, it's perfectly fine. You can keep it I have a lot of them."

"This is so embarrassing," she blushed and just wanted to hide somewhere.

"Well I think it's funny, so don't worry about it. Why don't we drink our cocoa now? Even though it's not a particular _hot_ chocolate anymore," he suggested and reached for their cups. Stella certainly knew how to lift the mood, even though it was rather by accident than planned.

"I think that's what I need now," she smiled a bit and took a sip of her drink. "Thank you." She didn't say if she thanked him for the cup, the fact that he had changed the subject or for listening to her.

And in fact, Horatio didn't want to know for what exactly she was thanking him. He was just happy that she was smiling again. "You're more than welcome Ma'am," he replied warmly. "So let's see if your hot chocolate can beat your five layer cake."

"It was only three layers," she corrected and winked at him. "I told you to at least have a try, but you didn't want to."

"I know and you'll hold that against me for the rest of my life, am I right?"

Stella just gave him a devilish grin. "That sounds about right," she said and laughed when Horatio groaned in frustration. "Stop groaning and enjoy your cocoa," she chided him.

"Will do Ma'am," he saluted halfheartedly and took another sip. Maybe there would be another conference here in Boston and then… he would at least try the cake.

It was some time later and Stella was packing her suitcase, when a knock on the door interrupted her inner musings. After the little break down earlier, she and Horatio had enjoyed their cocoa and talked about everything and nothing actually. Finally talking about the incident and her emotions had lifted quite a weight from her heart and shoulders, but it had also opened a few wounds which now needed to heal again, just properly this time.

Since she didn't expect someone at this time of day, she seriously toyed with the idea of playing dead and ignoring the knock, but in the end, her curiosity got the better of her. She carefully walked to the door and looked through the peephole to see who was standing at the other side of the door. Blinking, she took another look and couldn't believe her eyes. She was already surprised to see this person standing there, but their attire was even more surprising. In one fluent movement she unlocked the door and opened it. "Horatio?"

At this very moment, Horatio wasn't sure if this had been a very good idea at all. Seeing the astonishment in her face and the way her eyes roamed over him, made him feel quite embarrassed. He was sure that if someone was entering the hall right now, he would die of humiliation immediately. And all that just because his TV wasn't working and he'd wanted to ask Stella if he could use hers for a couple of moments. The fact that he had already changed his clothes at the time when he had found out that the TV wasn't working, didn't make it any better.

And now he was standing here on the hotel floor, in a navy check button front pajama shirt with matching elastic weight pants, in front of a woman who seemingly couldn't decide if she should laugh or shut the door in his face. "Ah.. hi," he started awkwardly and looked at his hotel slippers. "Could I come in please?"

Still a bit shell shocked, Stella just nodded and opened the door a bit wider, so he was able to come in. Once inside, she locked the door behind them and walked to her bed, where she had put down her suitcase. "So," she started and did her best not to laugh at him, "to what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you in this…ah…different…kind of clothing?" she smirked and tried to concentrate on her packing.

"My TV," Horatio answered smoothly and elaborated it a bit more, when she sent him a confused look. "It's broken and I wanted to ask you, if I could watch the weather forecast here? Since they said something about a possible snow storm heading our way, I wanted to find out a bit more, especially if they think about closing the airport."

"And you've found out that your TV is broken after you had changed into your pajamas?" she chided him and found it rather amusing.

"Believe it or not, but that's exactly how it happened. Just like you, I packed my suitcase, changed and well…tried to turn on the TV but nothing happened," he defended himself, but couldn't help but smile about it. "It does sound a bit lame, doesn't it?"

"A bit, yes," she laughed, "but I don't mind. Try your luck with my TV, I don't know if it works," she told him and lifted the suitcase from her bed. "Make yourself at home while it's my turn to get changed, because I actually wanted to go to bed now, but it seems like I have some unannounced visitor..," she winked.

"Oh, I didn't know that, I can leave if you want to," Horatio quickly stammered. He should have known that she'd probably be in bed at this time. They'd had a quite an exhausting day after all.

"Don't be silly Horatio, I was only joking. Now watch your weather forecast and I'll be back in a few," she playfully rolled her eyes at him and grabbed her own nightwear.

"As you wish Ma'am," he called after her and turned on the TV, before sitting down on the edge of her bed, since he couldn't read the information from the couch's angle. The weatherman was busy talking about the snowstorm that was still heading their way, but it looked like no airports would get closed. "That's at least something," Horatio mumbled to himself and pulled a face when he noticed Miami's weather on the left side of the screen. "68°F and I'm freezing here with 30 something."

But then again, sitting in a cozy hotel room, while the snow was falling outside, did have some nice ringing. "It could be worse," he concluded and rested his forearms on his thighs. He hadn't had so much fun for at least 10 years and he was very thankful for the fact that Stella had gone to this conference. She'd helped him a lot, not only with Kyle, but also in other areas of his personal life. It was hard for him to admit it, but this woman had captured his heart in the one or other way. He just didn't know what to make of it.

What Horatio didn't know was, that Stella had similar thoughts while changing into her own pajamas and just like him, she had no idea how to judge those emotions. With a sigh, she checked her appearance in the mirror once again and slowly opened the bathroom door. Horatio was still sitting on the foot of her bed and seemed to be solely interested in the weather forecast, since he didn't look up when she entered the room.

"_He sure does look handsome like this,"_ she thought to herself. _"Oh heck what am I saying? He looks sexy, just admit it girl."_ Seeing him in something so casual and the same time personal like pajamas, gave her a very different view on this man. And she definitely liked this new side of him. She absolutely enjoyed seeing Horatio and not Lt. Caine. And the way the lights of the TV played with his hair and illuminated it in different colors just reinforced these small butterflies in her stomach.

"_And now get a grip, Stella and focus. He's not waiting for you to come to bed, but just to watch some TV. Don't be pathetic."_ She had to admit though that she wouldn't mind sharing the bed with him. Not in a sexual way by all means (though the woman in her wouldn't mind that at all), but after their talk about Frankie, she wished for some strong arms to protect her during the night. "So what does the weatherman say?" she asked softly to stop herself from her wishful thinking.

Looking up, Horatio couldn't help but let his eyes roam over her attire before he sighed and sat up again. "Well the storm is still heading towards us, but it doesn't look like they've to close the airports."

"That's good, as much as I like it here, I want to be home on Christmas Eve and most definitely on Christmas Day," Stella smiled and sat down next to him. Of course she had noticed the looks he'd given her, but she didn't mind at all. Unlike other men, he didn't stare at her like she was some feast, but in a very different way. She couldn't even describe it, but it felt good.

"True," Horatio agreed and grabbed for the remote when the preview of the next movie started.

"Oh don't you dare to turn off the TV," Stella quickly said and tried to take hold of the remote.

"What? Why? I thought you wanted to go to bed?" he asked confused and handed her the remote. It was her TV after all.

She looked at him wide-eyed. "Didn't you notice the movie?"

"Ah.. no?" he shrugged. The music alone had told him that it was some chick flick and that was not his typical type of movie.

"It's Pretty Woman!" she exclaimed.

Just as he had thought - a chick flick. "Well then, have fun," he grinned and suddenly had the distant feeling that he needed to get out of this room.

"Don't you want to stay?" Stella asked and surprised them both. "I mean..," she quickly tried to think of a good reason for him to stay. "I…would…really like some company...if only for a few more minutes? Please?"

Sighing to himself, Horatio tilted his head a bit forward. He really wasn't into such movies and he wasn't sure if spending more time with Stella would do them any good. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy spending time with her; no he certainly did and that was what he was afraid of. Since the first time they'd met, he'd had some soft spot for this woman and their new found close proximity didn't make it any better or easier.

"I know you're not into such movies, no man is," Stella said softly, "it's just after our talk before, I don't want to be alone just yet... if that's okay with you?" She didn't want to force him into anything.

Nodding slightly, he gave her a small smile. "It's okay; I think I can endure a few minutes of the movie."

"Thank you," she sighed in relief and scooted backwards, until she reached the headboard. "You don't want to sit like this the whole time, do you?" she asked him, when he remained in his position.

"Your tone is telling me that I rather shouldn't," he chuckled in reply and followed her example. "Now we just need some pizza, chips and.. hmm something to drink," he told her when he was half lying/sitting next to her.

"Funny, weren't you the one who were complaining about the fact that I can eat a three-layer cake and stay slim? And now you're talking about junk food?"

"A pizza and some chips don't have as many calories as your chocolate cake, Stella," he laughed.

"Dream on, Horatio," she snorted. "Dream on and now shush, the movie starts."

"As you wish Ma'am," he relented and pulled a face when he watched Richard Gere abusing the car's engine. "I would arrest him for that," he mumbled. "No car deserves to be treated like this, especially not a Lotus Esprit."

Two hours, a lot of love, heartbreak and a happy ending later, Horatio was still half-lying on Stella's bed. Some time during the movie, Stella had changed her sitting position into a lying one and had decided to use his chest as some kind of pillow. At first, Horatio had – unknown to Stella – raised his eyebrows at that, but in the end he had decided not to say anything. Truth to be told, he had and still did enjoy their sitting arrangement and even though he would never admit it, he had also enjoyed watching the movie with her. He hadn't enjoyed the movie in particular, but the fact that he'd shared some precious moments with a lovely woman.

With a small sigh he looked down at Stella, who hadn't said a word for at least half an hour and he wasn't sure if she was still awake. It was definitely time to get into his own room and own bed. "Stella?" he whispered and stroked her curly hair. "I better get going."

"Mhmm," Stella mumbled and though she hadn't been asleep, she didn't want to get up from her comfy Horatio-pillow.

"It's getting late and we both have to get up early," he tried to reason her, when she remained in her position and therefore hindered him to get up. "Come on..," he chuckled.

"You're such a spoilsport Horatio Caine," she grumbled and took her time to get up.

"I know," he chuckled and watched her rolling onto her other side. "You've fallen asleep at the time when he'd told his friend that she's a prostitute anyway."

"I didn't," she argued back, "I can easily tell you what happened afterwards."

"That's not hard after watching the movie over and over again," he continued the teasing and playfully rolled his eyes at her when she showed him her back. "Are you giving me the silent treatment now?"

"Yes," she said flatly and did her best to suppress a smile. "I'd even raise my hand, but I'm too lazy."

"Who would have thought that you're a morning grouch," he laughed and scooted closer to her.

"I'm NOT a morning grouch and by the way, it's midnight, Caine," she hissed in pretence to be annoyed.

"Your tone tells me otherwise, Bonasera," he shot back and looked down at her. He knew that she was only faking her annoyance, yet still he didn't like it. He didn't like it when women were mad at him in general – no matter if for real or as a joke – so he decided to stop the teasing. Without thinking, he leaned down and kissed her cheek, totally unprepared for her reaction.

When she felt his lips on her cheek, Stella closed her eyes with a small sigh. This had been unexpected, but not unwelcome. Gracefully she turned around, so they were now lying chest to chest. She slowly opened her eyes and stared into his sparkling blue ones, which looked at her searchingly. If someone would ask her later why she did it, she wouldn't be able to tell; but at that time, in this very moment her body and emotions had taken control of the situation and her mind had been condemned to watch.

Her hand reached out for his cheek, her eyes wandered from his eyes to his lips and back and without realizing it she pulled him towards her. The moment their lips met, she felt this certain tingle and the fact that Horatio didn't seem to mind, sent the butterflies flying in her stomach.

It had taken Horatio a moment to register what was happening, but the softness of her lips against his made it impossible for him to deny her anything. He had never imagined her lips being so soft and sweet and the more he felt them, the more he wanted. Deep back in his mind he knew that this wasn't a good idea at all, but when Stella slowly asked for permission to deepen the kiss, he was more than willing to grant her entry. He could still taste hints of the cocoa they had drunk hours before and it was intoxicating for him.

Stella on the other hand, was busy playing with the short, soft hair on his neck. She had always wondered if his hair was as soft as it looked like and now she knew the answer. It was even softer than she had imagined and she loved it. She'd never been interested in a red headed man before, had never considered them as desirable, but at this very moment she had to redeem this opinion; at least when it came to Horatio Caine and the things he was doing to her.

Horatio's male ego registered immediately the soft noises of pleasure Stella was making and it encouraged him to take things a little further. Slowly he let his hand roam over her shoulder, towards her arm and her waist, where he stopped his little exploration. He firmly rested his hand on her waist and when he felt that she willingly rolled on her back, he moved with her.

Breaking the kiss, he started to place soft butterfly kisses on her chin. She did taste sweet everywhere and Horatio knew that he was falling more and more for her. Something he shouldn't do. He had never been someone who had particularly enjoyed bedding a woman for just one night and certainly not a woman that he knew; certainly not a woman that he liked a lot.

So when Stella wrapped her arms around his neck and lifted one leg to grant him a more comfortable position, it suddenly dawned on him that it was now or never. If he didn't stop now, he couldn't stop at all. And this friendship was much too precious for him, to destroy it with one night of passion. He wouldn't use Stella like that; he wasn't like the other men she'd had in her life.

When the kisses suddenly stopped, Stella opened her eyes and gave Horatio a confused look. "Horatio?" she asked, because she had no idea why he'd stopped. "Is something wrong? Did I something wr-"

"No," he quickly interrupted her and carefully rolled on his side again. "If anyone has done something wrong, then it'd be me Stella," he told her. "I.. I need to apologize for…," he mumbled, unsure of what to say. "For…getting…carried away.. well.." He'd never been good in talking about such things; at least not when he was in a situation like this; where he'd almost taken advantage of Stella's state of mind. "I'm sorry," he said softly yet sincerely.

"No!" This time it was Stella, who interrupted him. "There's no need to be sorry, Horatio. I was the one who started the kissing."

"But I should have stopped you," he pointed out. "I mean, it's been a straining evening for you, talking about Frankie and now I was about to take adva-"

"Don't you dare to use his name in the same sentence as yours, Horatio Caine," she told him firmly. "You're nothing like him. And you certainly wouldn't have taken advantage of me." Horatio was the complete opposite of her late ex-boyfriend. He was sweet and caring... and what was even more important for her, she felt safe with him.

"But-"

"No buts Horatio," she said and kissed him on the lips. It wasn't soft or loving, not like the kiss they'd shared only seconds before, but it was the kiss she needed to show him, that he should stop this line of thinking.

Relenting, Horatio just nodded and sighed. "But still, I'd better get going into my own bed." This had been his original plan anyway; things had just turned out a bit differently. He sat up with a small groan and had just swung his legs over the edge of bed, when he felt a hand grabbing his arm.

"Horatio.. stay…"

Turning around, he gave her a small smile. "I really should get going Stella. Before…before something happens that we might regret in the morning. And I certainly don't want to regret anything when it comes to you."

"I know," she nodded. She understood him perfectly, because she felt the same. She wasn't sure if she would regret a night of passion with him, but she knew that she would regret the fact that they lived in two cities and a relationship would never work out; if Horatio was actually looking for a relationship anyway. And if she was honest to herself, she wasn't sure if she was looking for one herself.

"Then I should get going," he interrupted her inner musings and tried to get out of the bed again.

"No," she said again and strengthened her hold on his arm. "Please…"

"Stella," he sighed softly and tilted his head to the side, when re realized that something was bothering her. "What's wrong?"

"It's just," she sighed and felt foolish for behaving like this.

"Yeah? What is it?" he pressed on gently and freed his arm from her hand. He didn't let go of it though, but gave it a soft squeeze.

"I'd really appreciate it if you stay for the night. When you left this evening, the feeling of not being safe returned full force and when you…knocked on my door some time later, I had seriously considered if I should just ignore it, because I was... afraid of…well you know..," she trailed off and averted her eyes.

"You were afraid of who would be waiting on the other side," Horatio concluded.

"Yeah," she admitted. "I know it's a lot to ask and I have no right to anyway, but-"

"It's okay, I'll stay," he didn't let her finish.

"Really?" she looked up surprised.

"Really," he nodded and squeezed her hand again to underline the trustworthiness of his words. "I just need to take a beeline to the bathroom though."

Sitting up a bit, she grabbed his hand. "Will you come back?" she asked and felt actually pretty stupid for asking such a question, but at this very moment she couldn't help herself.

"I promise," he smiled at her. "I'll be back in a few, okay? No need to worry," he tried to sooth her and freed himself once a gain from her grip. "Why don't get settled in and I'll take care of the lights when I come back?" he suggested and got up from the bed.

"Okay," she nodded meekly and slipped under the covers.

"Good girl," he praised her and quickly vanished into the bathroom. He still wasn't sure if this was such a good idea, staying with her and sleeping in the same bed, but the pleading tone in her voice had given him no chance. He'd seen how afraid she still was and if he could help her with overcoming this fear by staying with her, he would do so.

A couple of moments later, he returned from the bathroom and switched off all the lights, except of the one on Stella's nightstand. "See? I told you it wouldn't take so long," he gave Stella a small smirk, when he noticed that she was watching every move. "I seriously hope you don't snore," he joked in hope to lighten up the mood again and knew that he had succeeded when he heard a light snort coming from her side of the bed.

"You should better hope, that _you_ don't snore, or I'll kick you out of this bed," she threatened, which made him laugh.

"Nice. First you ask me to stay with you and then you utter threads," he said and sighed when he finally found a good position.

"Sue me," Stella said, but in fact, she wouldn't even mind him snoring, as long as he would stay here. "I'll switch off the light, okay?"

"You do that," he replied and rolled on his side, facing her. Smiling he let her roll from one side to the other, till she had finally found her perfect position. And this position was actually him spooning her from behind.

"Is that okay?" she asked quietly, because it was quite an intimate sleeping position and it didn't matter that they had shared the one or other intimacy before.

"It is, don't worry," he smiled and laid his arm over her waist, to draw her even closer. "Good night, Stella."

"Good night, Horatio," she sighed softly and closed her eyes. After a few minutes of silence, she opened them again and listened to his regular breathing. "Horatio?" she whispered, so she wouldn't wake him in case he was already asleep.

Horatio wasn't asleep though, because the wheels in his head were still turning and he was trying to wrap his mind around what had happened earlier. There was something between them, he knew that only too well, but they couldn't act on it. She was still traumatized from her former experiences and he was still hurting from Marisol's death. The fact that they lived in two cities made it impossible to overcome those hurdles. But those thoughts alone surprised him. Considering Stella as a potential lover and entering a relationship had seemed to be impossible for the last years and now it was giving him a headache. Stupid distance. Stupid fate. Someone really didn't like him.

Realizing that he hadn't said something and that she must think that he was asleep, he softly asked, "Yeah?"

"I hate that we live in two different cities," she admitted. It was easy to say the truth in the dark, always had been and even though she didn't know what his reaction would be like, she had to say it.

So he wasn't the only one who couldn't stop thinking. "Me too, Stella. Me too," he sighed and squeezed her softly. It was unfair. Plain and simple unfair. Yet they couldn't change it. His home was Miami and he never wanted to go back to New York again, and Stella's home was New York, so the chances for a happy ending were very slim. "Next life time maybe," he mumbled and tried to stifle a yawn.

"Yeah…maybe," she said and was relieved that he seemed to feel the same. Hearing the yawn she smiled lightly. "Sleep well."

"You too, sleep with the angels, Stella," he replied and closed his eyes again. Shortly afterwards he was sleeping tightly.

"_I already do,"_ Stella thought to herself. Horatio had been her guardian angel in human form today and she'd never forget that. _"I already do,"_ she thought again before sleep overwhelmed her.

_**Tbc if you wish**_


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: So this is it, as Michael Jackson put it so nicely. Thanks to everyone who has read the story and most of all to the people who actually gave me some kind of feedback. This means a lot to me. I hope you enjoyed the story as much as I did while writing it. And who knows, maybe there will be a sequel some day. **

**Chapter 7**

The next morning, Stella was awakened by some odd noise. She had no idea how early or late it was and in fact, she didn't want to know. She just wanted to stay like this; lying in a very cozy bed, surrounded by warmth and her head resting on a pillow that was breathing.

"_Wait. Breathing?"_

With a start she opened her eyes and groaned slightly when the room was brighter than she'd thought. Once again she heard this odd noise and raised her head a bit. Smiling, she realized who her pillow and what this odd sound was – Horatio was snoring. _"So he does snore after all,"_ she grinned to herself and popped up on her arm to have a better look at him.

Sometime during the night, they must have changed their sleeping position and now Horatio was lying on his back, his mouth slightly open. One arm was wrapped around her, just like he wanted to protect her and the thought alone made her giggle lightly. Leave it to Horatio Caine to be protective even in deep sleep.

Stella knew that it wasn't a good idea to go back to sleep again, because then she would sleep until noon, so she decided to do some Horatio-studying. This was a one time chance to have a closer look at this extraordinarily man and she would have lied if she said she didn't enjoy what she was seeing. Horatio looked more relaxed than she'd ever seen before. The wrinkles on his forehead and around his eyes weren't as noticeable as they normally were and she found that very appealing. He looked a lot younger than this and more carefree. She could only wonder what emotional weight had to be lying on his shoulders every day and what the real Horatio Caine would look like.

The Horatio Caine that she'd seen glimpses of in the last three days. The funny one, the teasing one, the laughing one and the…well…happy one. Her eyes wandered further to his little nose and to his lips. The lips she had tasted only hours before; the lips that had made her feel a tingle and the lips she could still feel on hers. As much as she had hated the fact that he'd stopped their little making out session that evening, she knew that it'd been for the best.

With a sigh she couldn't help but carefully run her fingers through a lock of hair on his forehead. He looked cute with his tousled hair and she liked it more than the straight and boring hairstyle he usually wore due to his job. Not to forget that this was the same with his pajama and his suits. She would rather opt for a Horatio in pajamas anytime than for one wearing a suit. But then again, that was just her and a lieutenant chasing criminals in a pajama would prompt the one or other question. Though, Horatio in a pajama with his hand on his hips would be quite a sight. Laughing at the image in her head, she shook her head. Once again she reached for his hair again, when she got startled by a deep voice.

"Stop staring at me," Horatio mumbled and smiled when he didn't get a response. He'd been awake for a while now but instead of telling her, he had enjoyed her gentle ministrations.

After overcoming her initial shock, Stella shook her head at him, even though he couldn't see it. "I'm not staring at you," she said, "I'm…admiring the view."

"Sure," he snorted and opened his eyes. "I already told you not to try to sweet talk me," he chided her and laughed when she stuck out her tongue at him. "Did you sleep well?" he asked more serious then and gently stroked her back.

"I did, thanks to you," she said softly and rested her head on his chest again. It was wrong, she knew, but she could actually get used to this. "What about you?"

"I slept very well, thank you," he said honestly and rubbed his eyes with his hand. Then he chuckled to himself. "I hope I didn't snore that much…"

"I could barely stand it, but didn't have the heart to kick you out," Stella deadpanned and waited for his reaction.

"I'm not that bad," he argued back, but when she raised her head and looked at him, he got a bit unsure. "Am I?"

"No," she grinned, "it was perfect. Don't worry about it." She really loved to tease him, it was so much fun.

"Perfect, huh?" Now it was his time to tease her. "I aim to please."

"Mhm I'm sure you do," she answered and didn't feel like responding to his rather hypothetical question. No, she rather enjoyed lying here and thinking about anything and everything.

Horatio did the same and looked upwards to the ceiling. It was like they didn't have to talk anymore, like they could easily enjoy each other's presence without having the urge to fill the silence with words. He liked that since this was a rare thing; nothing you would share with everyone.

After some minutes, or maybe hours, he wasn't so sure, he nudged her gently. "Stella, what time is it?"

"I have absolutely no idea," she answered and turned to her side with a sigh. "Horatio… when's your flight?" she asked timidly.

"12:45, why?" he asked curiously and had a certain feeling in his gut.

"Because, it's already 11 a.m.," she answered and waited for his panic attack.

"Oh crap," he exclaimed and was up in a start. "What about your flight?" he asked while he tried to get into his slippers.

"12:30," she answered and watched him fighting with his slippers. This was so surreal and yet so funny, that she couldn't help but laugh.

"Stop laughing at me," he growled and rolled his eyes, when he almost fell over his own feet and she laughed even harder. "Stop it, Stella," he ordered, but to no avail. "I mean it... we will miss our flights," he tried to be serious, but her laughter was contagious. He was sure that he was giving her quite a show while fighting with some stupid pair of shoes and this was so not him; so not the always composed Lieutenant who never got hectic, but had everything under control.

"I know, I know," she took a deep breath and wiped away some tears. "You just looked so…anyway," she cleared her throat and got out of her bed. "You're right, we need to hurry. The foyer in 15 minutes?"

"Sounds good to me," he nodded and walked to the door. "I'll see ya in a few."

"You will," she replied and quickly made her way to her bathroom when Horatio left the room. Now she needed a quick shower and a super quick make up. It was definitely good that she packed most of her things yesterday or she would have a huge problem.

A few rooms further, Horatio was almost jumping out of his clothes and stuffed it into his suitcase. No need to fold it when it has to be washed anyway. He didn't have the time for tidiness now. Then he walked into his bathroom, grabbed his toothbrush and stepped under the shower. Normally he wouldn't do that, but he hoped to safe some time with this. The only thing that would cost him too much time today would be a clean shave, but in this moment he could care less about that. This wasn't Miami and he didn't have to be spick and span in his free time anyway.

With a sandwich in his right and a fresh coffee in his left hand, Horatio was enjoying his late breakfast/early lunch in the airport terminal. Stella was sitting next to him, also enjoying some food and looking at the departure board. They had managed to get everything done in 15 minutes and just like they'd planned, they'd met in the foyer and had then taken a cab to the airport. Fortunately, they had found their counters easily and they hadn't been too late to get their tickets.

Afterwards they'd decided to go their gates, and to get something to eat there. They'd had so much luck in being on time for their flight that they didn't want to wander around the airport and then lose track of time again.

And now they were waiting for their gates being opened. It had been quite a coincidence that their gates were in the same area, but then again, they were both heading south, so the chances had been good anyway. Not that they minded it at all. This way they could spend a few more minutes together.

"It seems like our flights will be on time," Stella said and reached for Horatio's coffee to take a sip.

"Hey," Horatio complained and glared at her. "That's my coffee, get your own."

"I only want to take a sip, so stop whining," she grinned and rested her head against his shoulder.

"Sure and when I get it back, it's empty," he huffed for good measure. He loved this teasing between them and would definitely miss it once their ways would part again.

"That depends on if you continue complaining or just be a gentleman who helps a damsel in distress," she laughed and passed the coffee back.

"Nice," he snorted and ate the last piece of his sandwich. "So is Mac picking you up?" he asked, since she had called him a few minutes before, in order to tell him that her flight would be on time.

"Yes, he just wants to finish his paperwork and will drive to the airport then. He's taken some vacation till next year," she said and grinned at Horatio's shocked face. "Yes you heard correctly, he took some vacation time. We were as shocked as you are."

"The Chief ordered him to use some vacation time, right?" Horatio asked, because this could be the only explanation for that. As far as he knew, Mac Taylor was as bad in taking a day off as...well…he was.

"That he did," Stella nodded. "And he also told him that he doesn't want to see him until January, no matter what happens."

"And Mac agreed to that? Mhm, must be the soldier in him," Horatio chuckled. "But it's good for him, everyone needs a little vacation every now and then."

"I hope that you take your own advice then," she mocked, because as far as she knew, Horatio was as bad as Mac.

"More or less," he admitted sheepishly. "It's easier now not to take some days off, because Alexx isn't in the lab anymore. In the past, she'd apprehended me in my office, took me by the ear and basically threw me out of the lab while giving me a piece of her mind," he laughed.

"I've never met that woman, but I love her," Stella joined his laughter. "Maybe I should give her a hint…"

"It's really good that you don't have her number," Horatio grinned and wiped away the imaginary sweat on his forehead.

"I'm a CSI, Horatio," she chided. "I can find out everything if I have to."

"But you wouldn't do that to me, would you?" he asked and gave her his best puppy dog impression. "After all the things I did for you. Starting with looking for a present for Lucy…," he started, but was interrupted by her.

"Blackmail doesn't suit you, Horatio," she told him and patted his rough cheek. "No, I won't do that to you, as long as you promise to look after yourself."

"Scouts honor," he raised his hand and was happy that he'd avoided the pitfalls this time.

"Good boy," she praised him jokingly and leaned against him once again. Looking outside the huge windows, she could see that it was still snowing, but not as hard as it had been last night. Her plane was already parked at her gate, so the boarding would start soon.

"I am… most of the time," he grinned and wrapped one arm around her to make it more comfortable for both of them. Sitting like this, they must look like a couple for outsiders, but they both knew better than that. They were just friends, good friends, close friends even, but nothing more. But then… at another time... in another life…

"I better get going," Stella sighed softly and brought Horatio out of his musings after a while. "The boarding has started."

"Mhm?" Horatio looked at her confused before he realized what she was talking about. "Oh. Yeah, you're right," he nodded and got up from his chair. Before throwing it into the bin, he took the last sip of his coffee and then offered Stella his hand.

"Thank you," she smiled at him, the smile didn't reach her eyes though. Boarding meant leaving Horatio and not seeing him again until…this was a good question. For now it seemed like the only possibility to see him again was another case, but chances for that were slim. Sure, they could visit each other, but would they? She was anything but sure about that.

"You're welcome," he nodded and walked with her to the end of the line. "Did Mac say something about snow in New York?" he asked then, because he didn't like this kind of silence between them.

"He said something about some flakes, but it's no comparison to here," she told him, but he could hear in her voice, that she wasn't really into this conversation.

"I see," he said softly and looked at his shoes. The mood had changed completely and if he was honest, he could understand what was going on with Stella. He had also thought about the 'when do they meet again' question and just like Stella, he didn't have an answer to that. They could always talk to each other on the phone, but that wasn't the same as seeing your opponent from face to face. But flying to New York just like that? Just to see Stella? That might give others a wrong impression, wouldn't it? It would also give Stella a wrong impression. In what way wrong... he couldn't say though. It just felt weird for him.

"May I see your boarding card and passport please?" the stewardess looked at them with a friendly smile.

"Oh.. I'm just…it's not my flight," Horatio stammered, because he hadn't noticed that the queue in front of them had already disappeared. "I was just accompanying her."

"That's alright," the lady smiled reassuringly and scanned Stella's boarding card. "We still have a few more minutes, so you don't have to go the plane immediately," she offered Stella, because she felt that these two needed a few more minutes to say goodbye. She'd often watched couples saying goodbye, with a lot of kisses, hugs and heart breaks and so this was rather a normal sight for her.

"Thank you," Stella smiled sheepishly and stepped out of the way so the other passengers could check in. "So…," she sighed and reached for his hands.

"Yes.. so…," Horatio repeated and entwined their fingers. "I guess it's really time to say goodbye now."

"Yeah..," she nodded reluctantly and took a deep breath. This shouldn't be so hard, really, it shouldn't be. They were just friends and not lovers. Damn it!

"Well then," Horatio smiled lightly and squeezed her hands before letting go of them. "I hope you have a wonderful Christmas. I'm very happy that it was your turn to go to the conference, because without you, it wouldn't have been the same. Thank you for everything, Stella. Not only for helping me with the presents, but also for having an open ear. It means a lot to me." With that, he leaned forward and kissed her cheek.

"It was my pleasure and you're welcome," she sighed when she felt his lips on her cheek. "Merry Christmas to you as well," she then said and gave him a small smile. Then she turned around and was just about turn the corner, when she thought better of it and quickly made her way back to him.

Horatio just raised his eyebrows in question. "What are you-"

"Please don't hate me for that," she interrupted him and threw her arms around his neck. Without thinking twice, because this would only stop her, she pressed her lips against his and took the liberty of not asking for permission to deepen the kiss, but just did it.

Horatio had barely registered what was going on here, when it stopped as sudden as it had begun. Blinking he tried to say something, but Stella had already let go of him and fled from him and his reaction. "But," he mumbled dumbfounded and could only stare after her.

One hour later, Stella was still scolding herself about her stupid behavior. She must have been out of her mind, kissing him just like that! There was no excuse for doing so and if he hated her now or thought less of her, she couldn't blame him.

"_Since when are you stuck on stupid, Bonasera? Taking liberty of Horatio like this. This was the most stupid thing you've ever done. Seriously. What the heck were you thinking? Oh wait... you weren't thinking at all, right? And then you fled like a little school girl. You really made a dent. "_

And the bad thing was that she'd probably do it again. And this made her even angrier. And more frustrated. She had no idea what Horatio would think of her now. Sure, they'd kissed the other night, but Horatio had made it clear that it hadn't been a good idea. Though he hadn't seemed to mind kissing her in this very moment. Urgh, this was all so frustrating. She just hoped that she hadn't destroyed a precious friendship with her foolish behavior. And if she had it was all her fault.

With a sigh, she grabbed her suitcase and made her way to the exit. Mac would be waiting for her and she didn't want him to notice that she was frustrated and in a bad mood. He would just try out to find the reason and this was certainly something she didn't want to share with him. Horatio was a good friend of him after all and Mac shouldn't think any less of her.

So she put on her best smile when she saw Mac waving at her after exiting the customs area.

"Stella, hi, it's good to have you back," he hugged her and immediately reached for her suitcase. "It seems like you brought the snow with you, since it's been snowing here like crazy for the last 30 minutes or so," he grinned and motioned her to follow him. "I seriously hope that we can make it back to the city without a snowplow," he joked and didn't notice that Stella wasn't her usual self.

"Yeah, let's hope so," she commented and followed him outside. Immediately, she was greeted by a cold wind, which made her shiver.

"Well, maybe it's more like a blizzard," Mac shrugged helplessly when she shot him a glare. "Come on, I parked right there," he pointed at his car, which was already covered with snow. "At least I hope that it's my car..," he said to himself and pressed on the remote control. "Good, it is my car," he grinned when the SUV started to blink. "You get in and I'll take care of your suitcase," he told her and did exactly that.

Stella didn't even try to argue with him, but got into the car. Immediately she fastened her seatbelt and reached for her purse. After opening it, she started to rummage for her cell phone that had mysteriously disappeared in the depths of her handbag. "Where are you?" she mumbled to herself and got a small heart attack, when Mac sat down next to her and started the engine.

"You wanna go straight home?" he asked and looked at her expectantly.

"What? Oh…yes, home please. The morning had been quiet hectic we..I mean I overslept and didn't have that much time and you know that I hate that."

Raising his eyebrows, Mac looked at her. _"We? Did she say we?"_ Now this was odd. She'd had a single room, as far as he knew. "Yeah, I do know that," he nodded and had second thoughts about asking her about her slip of tongue. "Well then home it is," he then said and started the engine.

"Thanks," she tried to smile and opened her cell phone. After turning it on again, she keyed in her code and waited. A few seconds later she heard the 'welcome music' and not long afterwards she heard the typical beeping to tell her that she had a new message.

"_Oh no, please don't let it be from Horatio," _she begged silently. She didn't want to read what he was thinking of her now. But then again, she would at least know that he hated her. This was better than uncertainty, wasn't it? With shaking fingers she pressed on the button and the message appeared.

_**This is never going to happen.**_

_** Kala Christougenna, Stella**_

_** H**_

Apparently millions of butterflies were flying in her stomach and she could hardly stop herself from squealing. She had never ever expected this reaction. Hoped for it? Yes. But expected? Never. She was so lost in her own little world, that didn't hear Mac's question.

"Stella? Are you still with me?" he asked concerned, because she was acting very weird.

"What? Sorry, I was…somewhere else," she smiled sheepishly at him.

"I actually just wanted to know how the conference was?" Mac asked suspiciously, because of her odd behavior.

There was only answer to that one. "Best conference of my life, Mac. Best conference of my life…"

A couple of hours later and 1000 miles further south, Horatio was sitting in his chair outside on his patio and enjoyed the warmth of the Miami sun. Snow was good, but warmth was definitely better for his thin blood. With closed eyes he listened to the waves and the screaming of the sea gulls above him.

His flight had been a bit rough due to the blizzard over New York and truth to be told, he'd been quite happy when the plane had landed in Miami. He wasn't afraid of flying, but those air pockets weren't after his liking.

But now he was safe at home, with a an iced tea in front of him and his cell phone right next to it. Grabbing the small device, he typed in a familiar number and waited that the other person would pick up the phone. After the tenth ring, his good mood altered into disappointment and he was just about to hang up, when he heard a voice.

"_This is Kyle."_

"Kyle, hey.. it's me," Horatio smiled in relief.

"_Oh, hey Dad. Is the conference over already?"_

"Yes, I'm home for.. about an hour now," Horatio answered him and was a bit surprised that the boy remembered the fact that he'd been a way for the last days. He seemingly underestimated him sometimes.

"_That's great. Did you have snow? The news said something about a Blizzard?" _the boy asked concerned, which surprised Horatio even more.

"Yes we did have snow, but thankfully the Blizzard came when we have already left Boston."

"_That's good…"_

"Yeah. Uhm.. listen Son, the reason why I'm calling…," he trailed of. This shouldn't be so hard, should it?

"_Yeah? What is it Dad?"_ Kyle asked when his father stopped talking.

"Well except of telling you that I'm back again…it's Christmas tomorrow. And I wanted to ask you.. ehm.. if you'd like to spend it with me?" The silence that followed made Horatio anxious. Maybe his son didn't want to spend the day with him, but with his mother? Like he had told Stella the day before. "But if you want to spend it with your mother… or with the both of us, it's also fine," he added quietly, when he still didn't get an answer from his son.

"_Ah.. no.."_

No? His deepest fears came true. "Oh…well…" What should he say now? It was Kyle's decision and he should have asked the boy days… maybe even weeks ago. Now he had to face the music.

"_Ah no, Dad. I didn't mean it like that," _the boys quickly said when he noticed the defeated tone in his father's voice._ "I meant.. no.. I don't want to spend the day with mum.. to be honest.. I can't spend it with her, since she's in Orlando or something.."_

"Orlando?" Horatio asked surprised. She left the boy alone on Christmas? Sometimes he really wondered why he had fallen in love with this woman.

"_Yeah, she's meeting some business partner there or.. I don't know,"_ the boy shrugged helplessly.

"I see," Horatio replied firmly and wasn't amused by this. He and Julia would have a conversation about that. They surely would. "So, do you want to come over tomorrow then? I know you probably already have a plan and I'm sorry that it took me so much time to ask you…"

"_That's fine, Dad. It's not like I had the guts to ask you, so… But no I don't have any plans yet."_

Hearing that made him smile. It seemed like they were more alike than he thought. "Okay, wanna come over in the afternoon? Or do you want to see if you've been a good boy and Santa brought you some presents in the morning?"

"_Daaaad," _the boy said incredulously_. "I'm not five," _he huffed._ "Plus I'm always a good boy…well.. most of the time,"_ he grinned and had no idea that his father had said the same to Stella only a few hours ago. He had also no idea of how happy this made Horatio.

Chuckling, Horatio said, "well then, the afternoon it is. But it's good that you aren't five, because then I had to wear a Santa costume."

"_Thinking about it, I still believe in Santa and-"_

"Too late, Son," Horatio laughed. "No Santa costume this year."

"_Damn, but I'll remind you next year," _Kyle sighed in frustration. He'd pay a lot of money to see his Dad in a red costume with a white beard.

"You do that. Okay, I'll see you tomorrow then," he said and wanted to say goodbye, but Kyle stopped him.

"_Oh Dad? There's one more thing.."_

"Talk to me.."

"_I was wondering if we could have a turkey for Christmas?"_

"A turkey? Oh.. hmm… yeah.. why not? Of course we can have a turkey if you want to." He'd do anything to make his son happy. Even though the traditional Christmas Dinner he knew was a baked ham. But if his son wanted a turkey, he'd get one. "Tell you what, why don't you come over before noon? Then we can cook it together and you can't blame me in case it burns," he joked.

"_I hope you realize that I can't cook, Dad,"_ the boy tried to get out of this, but to no avail.

"That's just because you haven't tried it before. If you inherited something from me, boy, then you can cook." He wouldn't accept any excuses in this matter. "Plus, if you find a nice girl, you'd want to cook for her."

"_Nah, she can cook for me, Dad," _the boy replied with all the confidence a teenager could muster.

"We'll talk about that, when it's time," Horatio just chuckled. "But you'll still have to cook with me."

"_Damn and here I thought you might forget it,"_ the boy teased. _"How does tenish sound?"_

"Perfect. I'll get all the things we need. Is there something else you want?"

"_No that's fine, Dad. As long as we'll have the turkey, it's perfect. But listen, I need to get going. I wanted to meet some friends in the park to play some basketball…"_

"That's fine, Son. You go and have some fun and we see us tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it." And he really did.

"_Me too, Dad. See ya tomorrow. Bye."_

"Bye," Horatio grinned and hung up. This had been one of the easiest talks he'd had with his son so far. Now he just needed to visit the supermarket to get everything for the dinner. It had been quite some time that he last ate a turkey and he was looking forward to it. But the best thing he was looking forward to was spending time with his son. Now he could only hope that the boy would like his presents. But Stella had been so confident back in Boston, that he felt confident about it.

"_Stella."_ Thinking about her made him wonder if she'd already read his message and what her reaction must have been like. Hopefully good, but he didn't want to call her, in case he'd overstepped some invisible line. With a sigh he put the cell phone on the table in front of him and reached for his glass. _"Maybe I'll call her tomorrow, or the day after. Just to tell her that Kyle and I spent the day together," _he thought to himself as he sipped his drink. _"But now I need to get going. Let's hope they still have a turkey."_

Getting up from his chair, he grabbed his phone and the moment he stuffed it into his pocket, it started to vibrate. "Oh?" he asked surprised and looked at the display, noticing that he'd received a MMS. With a sigh, he pressed the button and became wide eyed. He was looking at himself and his mini-me: the snowman he'd build with Stella.

Grinning from ear to ear, he scrolled down to the bottom and averted his eyes sheepishly when he'd read the text.

_**This makes me happy. **_

_**Nollaig shona, Horatio.**_

_** Love, Stella**_

Smiling softly, he stuffed the phone back into his pocket and made his way into his house. Christmas hadn't even started yet, but he already knew that it would be the best Christmas ever. Who would have thought that a conference could turn his life upside down in such a good way? Who would have thought that some bugs, a bomb and a pajama party would make him so happy? No one. And yet…they did.

**The End**

10


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